Animals
If you are particularly interested in animals or want to give an animal as a gift to help poor people - check these alternative presents below. The major charities are now able to deliver goats, pigs, sheep and chickens, not to mention llamas, to deprived areas of the world. The advantage of making an animal as your alternative gift is that this gift has the potential to grow and multiply year after year delivering benefits far in excess of your original generous donation.
| Item | Cost | |
 | 20 Chicks  Turkey may be traditional at Christmas, but you can choose chickens too! Our project in Chettikulam, Sri Lanka aims to give communities a new income source. Providing families with vaccinated chicks will produce eggs and meat to eat or sell. | £14.00 |
 | Vet care kit  This little gift makes a big contribution to the vaccinations and veterinary care of goats, donkeys, sheep and other livestock around the world. Healthy animals mean happy owners, because they keep on getting the best from their four-legged friends. It's a bit like being a vet from the comfort of your own armchair, only (thankfully) without the rubber gloves. | £17.00 |
 | A goat Bring stability to Malawi's most vulnerable families, who've asked for this helpful gift. Goats provide milk, and more goats to sell. And their first kids will be passed onto other families. | £17.00 |
 | Support an Alpaca farmer This support an alpaca farmer gift will train farmers how to look after their animals and provide advice on getting the best price for their alpaca wool. | £24.00 |
 | 16 Ducks  Ducks you can sell them, eat their eggs and barter them at market. Since 1998, Christian Aid partner Friends in Village Development Bangladesh has been helping people recover from devastating floods by giving them ducks. A gift like this could help a family rebuild their lives after a disaster. | £24.00 |
 | Goat Our goats go only where they'll thrive, and to owners who'll really appreciate the extras they provide there's fertiliser to spread, milk to drink and sell, plus kids too. Goats, bought locally, also give nomadic communities a mobile source of income. | £25.00 |
 | Chicken Coop Bring Kenyan farmers chickens home to roost by buying a coop. This gift will pay for all the materials and training needed by farmers to build their own coop. | £25.00 |
 | 3 Pigs Some farmers in Nicaragua, hadn't had a harvest for six years. Following the gift of a pig one now breeds pigs, and for every 12 piglets born, he passes two on to another family. Those he keeps provide him with both food and an income. A gift like this could really help produce long-term benefits. | £27.00 |
 | 40 Chickens  So many families around the world are finding life hard because they've lost a parent - often due to war or illness. Providing a mother with a flock of chickens helps in two ways. She'll not only be able to enrich her children's diet, but as the flock grows she'll also be able to sell chickens or eggs to earn money. This is a great way to help a family provide for themselves in the long term. | £29.00 |
 | Sheep Help more children go to school in Basa, Senegal. Many families here are sheep farmers, so by starting a sheep breeding programme, schools can earn money to cover costs while teaching children skills valued by their parents. | £29.00 |
 | 8 Turkeys In Tajikistan, no one knows more about turkeys than Ghios Samadov. Trained in poultry rearing by Christian Aid, Samadov now runs a thriving turkey farm, and has passed on what he learnt to others in his community. That way everyone can earn extra money selling eggs and birds at the market. A gift like this really could really go on giving. | £31.00 |
 | 2 Goats Goats are great, because they give a mother a way to enrich her children's diet with milk. As the pair of goats mate and have kids, she'll be able to use the goats for meat or sell them to provide much-needed income. This gift is great for building a secure future as well as changing a family's life now. | £36.00 |
 | Llama Give a farmer a llama with this fantastic new gift. It's your chance to provide families in the Cochabamba region of Bolivia with a better breed of llamas, producing higher quality wool to help improve income. | £45.00 |
 | Herd of goats A herd of goats can go a long way in a place like Bangladesh. A goat provides milk to drink and sell, while its droppings can be used as fertiliser. This helps people grow better vegetables to feed their families. And like all livestock, goats produce other goats. A gift like this could go on and on making it the perfect present for someone who really wants to make a difference. | £60.00 |
| Llama breeding pair Give a farmer two llamas! This is your chance to provide families in the Cochabamba region of Bolivia with a pair of llamas, which will produce higher quality wool to help improve income. | £90.00 |
 | Yak You may not have thought about buying a yak for Christmas, but for some children it's top of their wish list. Our yaks in Tibet provide nutritious milk and wool for knitting, as well as helping with the ploughing. I bet Auntie Flo's woolly jumper can't do all that. | £160.00 |
 | Oxen Domingas Noguera and her family fled their village to escape the Angolan civil war. They returned years later with no home, no livelihood and little food. With support from Christian Aid partner ACM, the family was able to rebuild their lives. ACM gave villagers seeds and a pair of oxen with a plough to make sure they could cultivate the land. Now, they enjoy a more plentiful harvest. A gift like this will always give something back. | £344.00 |
 | Water buffalo and calf Sara Makram and her six daughters have a very unusual kitchen – a water buffalo. 'Before, we had to buy cheese and butter from the shop. Now our buffalo provides us with food at all times.' They also earn some money selling some of the cheese they make. A gift like this can make a big difference to poor people's lives. | £650.00 |
The alternative gift links on this page connect to Oxfam Reg. charity No 202918, World Vision Registered Charity no. 285908, Save the Children charity No 213890 or Christian Aid, registered charity no 1105851