Careful not careless giving makes festive sense

Across the UK, almost half of 18-34-year-olds received unwanted gifts last year with an estimated value of £279.

So says Triodos Bank, which pairs that survey with another, suggesting that

if given money for Christmas instead, 20per cent of Scots say they would like to invest it ethically. For the 18-34s, the number was almost double the overall average, with 42per cent stating they would consider investing or saving Christmas money ethically.

One way of short-circuiting that process is to turn your Christmas gift into an ethical investment in the developing world, or at least help a charity as you spend.

A survey for Glasgow-based charity SCIAF found that 73per cent of Scots still feel that the festive season is a time to help people in need, and twice as many people would rather receive a gift that helps people in need in developing countries (46per cent) than receive the typical Christmas present of socks (23per cent).

Relaunching its Real Gifts, the charity said its most popular choices were 'Send a child to school' at £26 which pays for notebooks, pens and uniforms and 'Safe water for five families' at £40 which pays for wells and other water projects. Money raised from the gifts helps people in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and you can also opt for chickens, goats, pigs, medicines, and even a toilet.

Then there is Lendwithcare, an innovative scheme that enables people in the UK to lend small amounts to entrepreneurs running their own business in poor communities around the world. It has already loaned over £5m to 14,000 entrepreneurs. The loans can be given as a gift voucher to a friend or relation, who can then choose which entrepreneur they would like to support.

Care International, which runs the scheme, says: says: "It may be a farmer in Cambodia who is seeking a loan to buy seeds, or a shopkeeper in Togo looking for funds to buy new supplies- enabling them to trade their own way out of poverty."

If you are shopping online, you can switch your search engine to everyclick.com, where the website donates 50%per cent of its advertising revenue to charity. It has already raised over £5m.

There are shopping sites which donate commission from retailers to charity, such as 'Giving a bit' or 'Give as you live'. Retailers pay commission to these sites for directing people to their websites to make purchases. That commission can be donated to any charity of your choice and it's free to use. On some shopping websites including eBay you can also make a small donation to charity at the virtual checkout.

There is also Care2Save, the only charity-owned and run shopping website that gives 100per cent of the money it makes through commission directly to the charity sector. It offers more than 2,000 high street retail partners and more than 13m products.

Commission earned from sales is split 80 per cent to any registered charity of the shopper's choice and 20 per cent to the Care2Save Charitable Trust, all of which goes directly to hospice and palliative care in the UK and globally.

If you feel charitable and feel able to give your time rather than your cash, there are websites such as Time Bank and Do-it where you can put in your postcode and find out about charities near you who need your help.

You can even use your own savings ethically by opting for the Charity Bank Cash ISA, which at present pays an impressive 1.5 per cent but which sadly from January 15 will be reducing to 1 per cent - not the highest in the market but still better than many banks. It has a 33-day notice period to withdraw any cash and a minimum investment of £250.

Charity Bank supports a huge range of local and national organisations if you like a wide choice of places to invest your money.

Triodos, the Dutch ethical bank which lends only to businesses with approved social and environmental goals, has an online Isa which pays a healthy 1.4per cent, also with a 33-day notice period for getting your hands on cash.