If gifting is your love language and doing good is on your agenda, grab a tag from your local giving tree!
South Africa (18 December 2025) – Giving trees are back. You’ve probably walked past one while doing your festive shop.
They look just like regular Christmas trees, but they’re decorated in colourful handwritten tags. Each of those tags holds a wish or small request from someone who could use a bit of help at Christmas.
Many people do stop and take a tag. Others notice them but don’t always know how they work, or plan to come back later and run out of time. And sometimes, a few wishes are still left hanging as closing dates approach.
They pop up everywhere in public spaces. Many giving trees in Cape Town (known specifically as Angel Trees) are organised by Rotary clubs, others by mall management, schools or local charities. While the organisers might differ, the goal is always the same.
To give. To make sure that someone else has something to open on Christmas Day.
The wishes are usually really practical. School shoes. Toiletries. Stationery. Clothes. Basics that families genuinely need.
We want to shed light on giving trees because they’re a special way to spread kindness over Christmas.
There’s nothing more festive than plucking a wish from a tree and making it happen.
Related Story
A Simon’s Town resident recently shared a Facebook post pointing out two giving trees in her local area at Longbeach Mall and Sunvalley Mall, run by the local Rotary club. Each of them still had many tags left and are close to their closing dates.
“Most of the things the kids ask for are basic needs,” she wrote. “It’s so easy to help one child.”
How giving trees work can differ slightly depending on who’s running them.
Usually, you choose a tag, buy the item listed, attach the tag to the gift and drop it off at the collection point. Most trees have clear instructions nearby, and it’s worth following them closely so each gift reaches the right person.
So if you spot one while doing your December errands, take a moment to stop. You might be able to make someone’s Christmas feel a little lighter without much effort at all.
by 