Simplify: Live Small - Think Big

Living simply is brilliant in itself, but we're not just doing this to rethink our own attitudes to money.

The early church stood out because of its kindness, its generosity to those in the community who had little or nothing. What an inspiration.

So we're taking the money we've saved in October and giving it away. We all know plenty of charities that could badly do with our money in the middle of the recession, so let's give them a boost! There might be someone in your church or your neighbourhood who can't get a job and is struggling to make ends meet. Or you might find that the local community centre is well behind budget and an injection of cash from your church could be just what it needs.

As you save money by living simply, talk to your pastors about where that money could best be used and let's get giving!

We aren't going to tell you which charities to direct the money to, but here are some Simplify giving guidelines:

• We would like to encourage you to give at least half of the money you raise to local charities that work with the disadvantaged in your community. They might offer debt advice and counselling, or provide care for the homeless, work with asylum seekers, give after-school support or another social service.
• Perhaps there are people in your church or community who are in need of money - who have been made redundant, are struggling to pay their mortgages or can't make ends meet for some other reason.
• And it's not just the UK that is suffering because of the recession. The poorest around the world are always hit hardest when those of us with more money tighten our belts. There are a number of national and international charities working with the poor who would make excellent use of your money.

We advise that you do not give the money to an internal church project, for example to fund your church youth worker. The aim of Simplify is for the Church to give for the benefit of the whole community rather than ploughing the money back into its own coffers.

In terms of how to collect the money:

• If you are doing Simplify individually, prayerfully select the charities you want to donate to and send it to them directly.
• If your church is doing Simplify, they will have proposed a number of charities to donate to. In this situation, we advise the church to hold a special collection at the end of the month and to collate the money in the normal way they would for a special collection, such as a Harvest collection. The church should then split the money between the charities as agreed and send them the money.

We'd love it if you could tell us how much you've raised and where the money has gone to, so that we can see the impact Simplify is having on communities round the country and even internationally. Please contact us on simplify@eauk.org to let us know how much you have raised, and where you have sent the money. If you can email us at the start of October to tell us what you think you'll be able to raise, that would be amazing!

Have fun!