Christmas

In the slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh, two young girls are growing up. They share the same surroundings, and the same dreams, but their lives couldn’t be more different. While one girl dresses her baby brother, the other puts on her school uniform. While one girl looks for litter on the streets to sell, the other learns English and maths. And while one girl is scared of the boys who shout at her on the street, the other plays with her friends in safety. I’d like to tell you the story of Halimoon and Jharna, and how you can transform a girl’s life through child sponsorship this Christmas. 

Presenter Gaby Roslin talks to ActionAid about what keeps her feeling happy and safe. Gaby is supporting ActionAid’s Christmas appeal to help protect homeless children around the world whose lives have been devastated by war, natural disasters and the terrible effects of climate change. 

Today, ActionAid launches Dear Sisters, a short film featuring Emma Thompson, Wunmi Mosaku, Jodie Whittaker, Alesha Dixon, Anjli Mohindra, Anna Maxwell Martin, Erin Doherty, Kiran Sonia Sawar, Mandip Gill and Sorcha Groundsell to support our Home Shouldn’t Hurt Christmas appeal. 

This Christmas, you can change lives by holding a fundraiser for ActionAid! Whether it's a sweepstake in the office, gift-wrapping at home, or a cake sale at school, you'll be sure to spread the Christmas cheer. Here are seven reasons to raise money and change lives, for good.

Award-winning children's author Giles Paley-Phillips shares what means the most to him at Christmas - and why a new dustbin will most definitely not be on his wishlist.

When I think back about this past year, some of the most striking images that come to my mind are the faces of children, caught up in terrible events that they cannot understand, but that they must endure. The faces of children from Nepal, covered in dust and blood as they crawled from under the rubble that used to be their homes and schools. The faces of refugee children, traumatised by war, searching desperately for safety in a strange land. During the festive season, while we enjoy food and laughter with our loved ones, it's impossible to ignore the plight of millions of children who have nothing.