![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=91.6){kind=small}
Hi all,
I am co-ordinating a Spoonie Secret Santa 2011 (thanks to Kaliya and Imogen who came up with the idea). If you will be on your own at Christmas - or even if you won't - and you're a spoonie / disabled person, here's how to get involved.
Firstly, as we've left it quite late, this is just open to people in the UK. Sorry about that but we would miss posting dates for other countries.
Stage 1:
Send your details to me (Flash Bristow) at xmas@gorge.org. I need your name, postal address, and email address. Also if you use twitter or blog it would be helpful to have your twitter name or your blog address, so the person sending to you can have a look, find out more about you and hopefully guess at something you'd like.
I need your details by midnight on Sunday 12 December.
Stage 2:
On Monday 13 December I will draw names at random and give everybody one person's details, so they can send a gift directly to that person.
The budget is just £5 (plus postage). Please send something you'd be pleased to receive, whether it's something useful or something that will raise a smile. It is possible that yours is the only gift that person will receive this Christmas.
You don't have much time! Royal Mail postage deadline is 14 December for standard parcels, 17 December for Second Class or 20 December for First Class. You might want to buy something in advance so it's ready to send when you get your recipient's details.
Ideally your gift should be wrapped, and labelled "From Spoonie Secret Santa" or similar, so that the recipient knows where it's come from, and can keep it wrapped up until 25 December.
Please let me know once you've sent a gift so I can tick it off the list, if possible.
Important:
If for any reason you need to drop out, or you think your recipient's gift will be late, please let me know so I can make sure your recipient still gets something, or knows to be patient! However, the system relies on everyone doing their best so please do send something to your recipient on time if you possibly can.
I will not let anyone know who sent a gift to who, so it stays a secret. I won't be taking part myself, so there's no question of knowing who is buying for me!
If you have any queries please ask on twitter - me (@techiebabe), Kaliya (@bendygirl) or Imogen (@imogen__may) - or email xmas@gorge.org with your query.
I hope you enjoy taking part in Spoonie Secret Santa!
Flash X
PS Participants take part at their own risk. Personally I am happy to give out my address and know it is out there on the internet, and I will know which one participant is given your name and address, but please make the decision to participate for yourself.
December 7 2011, 22:20:12 UTC 5 months ago
I've spent Christmas alone and without getting into it let's say the experience would require a TW to talk about so if I can help brighten someone up a little i'd like to.
December 7 2011, 22:50:18 UTC 5 months ago
I think it's a lovely idea that you'd be happy to send Christmas cards, and I think it could well be appreciated, but the way it works is that everyone gives me their address, which means a degree of security (I.e. I don't give out people's details without knowing the details of the person to whom I'm giving them). Some people feel vulnerable and might be thrown by receiving a card from someone that they don't know, unfortunately. I realise I know you from TLL, but do you see why I feel awkward about saying "yes, I'll give you everyone's addresses so you can send them an extra something"?
I need to make sure there is a way you could help without people feeling their details have been used in a way they were not expecting. At least one person has asked that I only share their details with someone I know (and trust) personally, because of that feeling of vulnerability.
Thinking about it, if you wanted to send cards, and send them all to me, so I can forward them on, I would be happy to do that. I've got plenty of stamps, and I don't think it would hurt to let you know the first name of each person in order for you to write them a card, if you're happy to send to me and for me to forward on. That way, you don't get their full details but everyone does get a card.
I'd do a sticker for the back of the envelope saying "from a friend, forwarded by Flash" so that it wasn't a surprise or shock. It would be up to you what you wrote inside (whether you just wrote Diana or gave them your full details).
Would you mind emailing me at flash@gorge.org so I can talk to you some more about this?
I do think it's a lovely idea, but I hope you can understand that I need to be careful about how people's details are handled. It is a sensitive issue and people are trusting me with their details for a particular purpose - I need to be aware of that.