Advent calendar hopes to shed light on charities

Mary-Ann Deasy has set up a Christmas advent calendar that highlights the work of Essex based charities

A women created an advent calendar which showcases the work of 24 different charities helping residents in Essex.

Mary-Ann Deasy, from Little Totham, said between 1 and 24 December, a daily short video would be revealed on social media to highlight how a charity has helped people and bring "joy".

Ms Deasy came up with the idea in November and said: "My research over the last few weeks has really humbled me.

"There are amazing people doing amazing things in our county".

The Essex Community Advent Calendar 2024 kicks off on 1 December

This is the first year Ms Deasy has put together the calendar.

"The hope is that it will bring joy, for each day for 24 days, there is a short video clip which is highlighting all of the amazing work of a charity which is supporting people in our Essex community," she said.

"The video clips have been coming in and they are absolutely beautiful. Advent is such a wonderful time and this is Essex and we are a great community.

"So I thought it would be quite fun to do something to bring the community together."

Ms Deasy said she had over 3,000 charities to choose from but had to narrow it down to 24 doors.

"We went ahead and really tried to pick charities right across our county," she added.

"All focused on people, so it's all about people in need, old/ young and various needs."

After only having a month to pull it together, Ms Deasy said: "I've tried to be as inclusive and diverse as we can, but obviously with [the] timing, people will just embrace it for what it is."