This month’s question is: ‘Have you ever given an ‘alternative’ Christmas gift?’

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The Rev Kate Vivers, retired auxilliary minister, Annan

“Over the years, as Christmas has become a festival of commercial overload, the time of expectant waiting and preparation, which is Advent, has become my focus.

“I have replaced Christmas gifts with Advent gifts. Some retain the essential elements of my original Christmas offerings, but packaged to be enjoyed throughout Advent.

“Putting together daily ‘gifts’: of edible goodies using family recipes; homemade pot pourri and soap; additional items picked up at local craft fairs during the year; packed in ‘interesting’ containers sourced from charity shops or fairly traded outlets.

“Honeybees, worms, school resources, medicine and emergency supplies sent round the world as charitable giving gifts for family and friends who enjoy ‘receiving’ these gifts as much as I enjoy choosing them.

“Many days the gift is a hand-written reading or reflection or prayer which resonates with me and hopefully the recipient. When my busyness collides with good intentions, Alternativity.org.uk have provided Advent gifts which have been well received. Or a simple Advent Calendar lets friends know they are in my thoughts.

“Arranging to take a lonely or recently bereaved friend along to experience a Christmas Concert of carols and readings offer a welcome diversion from the High Street piled high with seasonal ‘cheer’.

“The joy of the Nativity is more fully experienced by taking time to prepare and getting ready for that encounter with Christ.

“And to avoid the last-minute chore of wrapping gifts on Christmas Eve!”

Cheryl Watt, Administrator, Presbytery of Aberdeen.

“This month’s Big Question was tricky! Had I ever given an alternative Christmas present, you know, sponsored a goat or gifted a piece of the moon?! Not that I could remember?!

“I did once gift a star to my daughters in celebration of the birth their little sister, though we probably lost the star in the “Milky Way”, or down the back of the sofa, you know, kids tend to lose things!

“For Christmas, I have chosen many personalised gifts over the years, often in support of local companies.

“One year I had a Welsh Cheese hamper delivered from Abergavenny to my proudly Welsh dad living in Aberdeen. Another year, I had a picture made containing a small map of our local area, a paw imprint and lock of hair from a lovely Cavalier King Charles named “Radley” who had sadly just passed away, my parents were touched with this gift, though I couldn’t decide if the hair was rather macabre!

“Last Christmas, I gave a ‘couple selfie’ to my partner and took time to consider a meaningful bible verse to have engraved on to the wooden frame.

“Every Christmas, one alternative gift our family always give is to donate a large amount of food and toiletries to our local food bank, and we never forget to fill a “shoebox” or three.

“I consider it important to try to remember that Christmas is a time for compassion and consideration versus consumerism and inequality.”

Eleri Birkhead, Development Worker, World Mission Council, Church of Scotland offices.

“Christmas can seem like a time when, once you’re an adult anyway, you accumulate ‘stuff’ you don’t really have room for, because, as adults, you tend to have what you need.

“Our parents have had enough of accumulating stuff, and for us, the challenge of buying a clutter-free Christmas present is getting a bit much.

“You can put as much thought into it as you want, but aside from cakes and biscuits, and bottles of wine, there isn’t much else to choose from.

“That’s where ‘ethical’ or alternative Christmas presents’ can be a brilliant idea.

“Instead of cluttering the houses of parents or grandparents, we decided that it might be a good idea to purchase a goat for Grandad from Oxfam’s ethical gift catalogue.

“The goat, we were told, is fit and ready to be used for milking, and breeding, and for providing fertiliser that will help the land become more fertile.

“Grandad was very happy with his gift, which will not clutter the house (aside from the little fridge magnet he got to remind him of his goat), and will provide a useful resource for the farming community where it is going.

“The gift of a goat given to one family or community will not bring an end to poverty.

“It won’t solve the world’s problems.

“It will, however, provide some support to someone who is working hard to get by. And that’s a great thing.”

Leanne Clelland, trustee, ALTERnativity

“A few years ago, the headteacher at my children’s school mentioned that a third of the families at the school will miss meals in order to buy the latest Christmas toy.

“Any pretence of living in a multi-cultural, wealthy neighbourhood went kaleidoscopic as I realised that having and not having are the weapons of the playground and that Christmas is the battleground.

“During December, our attitudes to faith, money, peer pressure and family become obvious even to a child. So my husband and I needed to decide how much we were willing to trade to build the perfect Santa list.

“We committed to buying less stuff. What we do buy is ethically sourced, or second-hand. At least one gift in the stocking has to be a gift for someone else: a Present Aid goat or school books for pupils in Kenya, perhaps.

“ALTERnativity, for whom I’m a trustee, encourages people to make Christmas a simpler, more joyful celebration. This small but mighty charity has inspired us to give gifts of time, company and wholeheartedness.

“As we anticipate the birth of the Christ child, we are also looking out for opportunities to celebrate more faithfully and full-heartedly with those in our community who feel ashamed of being hungry, lonely or grieving.

“I don’t know how my boys will pick their way through the one-upmanship of the playground. But I know we will do it together, year after year, one simple step after another.”

Val Brown, elder, Williamswood Parish Church, Glasgow

“My life is split between people who really appreciate alternative gifts, and those who most definitely do not.

“As a gift-giver, recognising this difference is important, because part of the joy of giving a gift is ensuring that you are giving the person something that they would like, rather than something that you would like.

“Christmas is difficult for many of us, balancing the desire to bring joy through giving, with rooting our celebrations around the Christ child, born outside of comfort, soon to be a refugee.

“Christian Aid works with partners all over the world who don’t just deal with the symptoms of poverty but address the root causes, because we believe that our faith calls us to work for a world where everyone has enough, and where everyone is included.

“I have been privileged to meet people who are generous with their hospitality and their possessions, despite having very little. And that is both an inspiration and a challenge, especially at Christmas.

“At Christmas I try to gift things that can’t be bought in shops – the gifts of time, a family day away, a home-made board game, or more recently I have been writing my children books. And we have Present Aid gifts in there as well. But that only works for us as a family unit.

“When we go to our wider circle, my gran appreciates getting a gift that enables someone else to access education – so that’s what she got.

“For others, well it’s off to the shops…”