Local chef Jenny Curran has teamed up with overseas aid charity Concern Worldwide to encourage Belfast city shoppers to support its alternative Christmas gifts.
The healthy food blogger and Lisburn Road restaurant owner has had a blast in the kitchen whipping up the brunch of her dreams using avocados, sweet potatoes and eggs – just a few of the life-changing gifts that could benefit disadvantaged communities in some of the world’s poorest countries.
“Who doesn’t want a lifetime supply of avocados for Christmas? If there was a way to sign myself up I would! A sweet potato plant, an avocado tree and a chicken for the garden – it’s a selection of Christmas gifts that every hipster you know would love,” said Jenny.
“But the difference is these gifts are not for your best, bearded mate, they are for people in the world who need it the most, people for whom an avocado tree is truly life changing.”
The more than 25 gifts on offer also include paying school fees for children living in Kenya’s slums, providing wells for communities in Malawi without clean water, and supplying mosquito nets to help combat malaria in places like South Sudan.
This isn’t the first time that Jenny has been involved in supporting Concern. She has taken part in the charity’s challenge to live on only £5 for a week, and the Great Ethiopian Run for Concern where she saw first-hand the impact of its work in transforming lives.
“We spent a week visiting some small enterprises and meeting the people behind them. As a foodie, one person in particular really struck a chord with me. We met a woman who had been struggling to survive, selling bread from her home. After Concern got involved, the woman’s business was transformed. She went from flogging a few loaves of bread a week, to a fully-fledged, booming business with financial records and the legitimacy she had always craved.”
Last year, with the support of the people of Belfast, Concern delivered more than 10,000 gifts to families around the world.
“The gifts genuinely make an enormous difference,” said Jenny. “They embody the true spirit of Christmas, giving something that really means a lot. If you know someone who wants to spark change and make an impact in the world, these are the presents for them.”
Visit www.concerngifts.org or call 0800 032 4001
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