Nine charity Christmas cards that make a point

Christmas is the time of goodwill to all mankind and many people like to do their bit by sending cards that support or benefit charities.

Charity Christmas cards tend to be either traditional or to feature a festive tip of the cap of some kind to the cause they promote, as is the case with the cards depicting British birds and wildlife designed to support nature charities.

But some organisations like to take the opportunity to make a political point with their card designs.

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Population Matters

The name might be a giveaway, but Population Matters is a charity whose main concern is the number of people on the planet. It campaigns for family planning and responsible consumption.

It illustrates its point pretty effectively with its Christmas cards, which might not be the most beautiful in the world but certainly make an eloquent statement about human numbers.

Supporters include David Attenborough and fellow TV presenter Chris Packham, who says: "There's no point bleating about the future of pandas, polar bears and tigers when we're not addressing the factor putting more pressure on the ecosystem than any other – the size of the world's population."

Greenpeace

As you might expect from a group like Greenpeace they do not go in for seasonal schmaltz when it comes to Christmas cards, indeed they don't even produce traditional cards, preferring instead to offer e-cards. Last year various artists, including cartoonist Raymond Briggs, designed cards highlighting the issue of global warming.

Briggs, the creator of The Snowman, designed a card featuring his cartoon version of St Nick encountering problems at the North Pole. "Father Christmas has been having a dreadful time as the Arctic sea ice melts because of climate change," he said.

Other figures who designed cards for the charity included the Chapman Brothers, Jarvis Cocker, Modern Toss and the cartoonist Seppo Leinonen.

War On Want

Charities campaigning in the Holy Land have plenty of material to draw on at Christmas, and War on Want has not shied away from controversy with its best-selling effort, which makes a political point as it shows the Three Wise Men trying to get past Israel's West Bank barrier on their way to Bethlehem.

"Children are cut off from their schools, the sick from hospitals, farmers from their land and animals, family and friends from one another. Bethlehem, city of peace, has been disfigured by tanks and soldiers on its streets," reads the message on the back of the card.

Street artist Banksy tackled the same subject with a nativity scene that first appeared online almost ten years ago, but goes viral every December.

Friends of the Earth

The environmental charity takes a subtler approach than some but offers a way for supporters to show their commitment to alternative energy with an artistic card featuring wind turbines looking elegant on a frosty landscape.

The Countryside Alliance

The organisation that campaigns for an "increasingly marginalised rural minority" and wants field sports legalised offers a card that makes an obvious statement about the organisation's cause celebre – the ban on fox hunting.

The card, depicting huntsmen and hounds embarking on a fox hunt, has a festive connection as the Boxing Day hunt was a key part of the Christmas season.

The Blue Cross

Animal charities should have no problems coming up with festive card designs. And the Blue Cross, which finds homes for unwanted pets, put some of the guests at its animal hospitals to good use.

Donkey Sanctuary

For a charity that looks after donkeys coming up with a Christmas card must be the easiest job of the year. The Donkey Sanctuary offers cards featuring some of the animals it cares for.