Feeling powerless after the UK election result? Here are things you can do right now.
The UK has woken up to the biggest Conservative majority in over 30 years.
If it wasn't the result you were hoping for, it's easy to feel full of despair. But there are things you can do.
Here is a list of causes you can contribute to right now by giving time, money, food, or products. With 4.5 million children living in poverty in the UK, and food banks outnumbering McDonald's branches, you can use your time and energy to help those who need it right now.
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Volunteer with The Trussell Trust, which supports 1,200 food banks in the UK. You can also set up a monthly direct debit to support your local foodbank. You can do this via Bankuet (from £10 a month) and via the Trussell Trust.
Support Refugee Community Kitchen, which serves hot, nourishing meals to displaced people in northern France and the UK. You can support them by donating time for cooking or serving food. You can also donate money and food.
Give to Outside, a homeless shelter and community centre for LGBTQ people.
Donate to the LGBT+ Helpline which supports members of the LGBTQ community in need of someone to talk to.
Sign the community PrEP statement calling for access to PrEP on the NHS. Donate to PrEPster by contacting [email protected] for details.
Reserve a place for a homeless person this Christmas.
Buy a homeless person's Christmas dinner. You can do this via CentrePoint and Social Bite.
Volunteer at a Crisis homeless shelter over Christmas or all-year-round.
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Support mothers and children living in temporary accommodation in London through the Magpie Project.
Support disability equality charity Scope's Dreams for Christmas Appeal.
Volunteer as a Sense buddy and help support disabled children and young people.
Donate to Runnymede to fund their work fighting race inequality.
Contribute towards a Cornish holiday for Grenfell disaster survivors and firefighters.
Send a book to a vulnerable child via the BookTrust.
Donate to Refuge, a charity that supports women and children fleeing domestic abuse.
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Support sexual violence and rape survivors and volunteer or donate to Rape Crisis.
Donate period products to Bloody Good Period, an organisation tackling period poverty in refugee communities. There are over 40 drop-in locations around the UK where refugees and asylum seekers can collect products free of charge.
Buy arrival items for refugees to help them survive and stay warm during their first weeks in the UK. Choose Love has a dedicated 'arrival collection' online shop where you can purchase these items.
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There are lots of ways to volunteer with Greenpeace UK from working at a festival to running a street stall or organising events. Get involved with Student Climate Action, an intersectional youth group taking to the streets to protest government inaction on climate.
Volunteer with Green New Deal UK, a non-profit organisation campaigning for a Green New Deal in the UK.
Become a side-by-side volunteer with Alzheimer's Society to help someone with dementia.
Buy personal care products using Beauty Banks for people affected by hygiene poverty.
Help refugees find employment with Breaking Barriers.
Donate to The Biscuit Fund, a charity which provides financial assistance to people most affected by poverty.
Help reduce loneliness and isolation among older people and become an Age UK befriender. Get involved with The Cares Family, which connects older and younger neighbours to hang out.
Donate to Arts Emergency, an organisation which helps marginalised young people gain access to the creative industries.
If you want to support mental health services, mental health charity Mind has a variety of different ways you can volunteer. From working in their head office, to supporting on social media, to working in a Mind shop.
Donate to Press Pad's crowdfunder and help diversify the media.
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Support WWF's Adopt a Better Future campaign to protect precious habitats around the world.
We're no longer able to control the election result, but we can give our time and resources to help others.
Topics Activism Social Good
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
