This is a text-only version of an article first published on Thursday, 16 October 2014. Information shown on this page may no longer be current.
The Meaningful Chocolate Company is hoping to equip a baby clinic in Kenya by donating £10,000 from sales of its 2014 Real Advent Calendar. However, it is not just the charitable donation that makes The Real Advent Calendar unique.
Behind its first giant window is a 32-page Christmas story-activity booklet, designed to be used every day in Advent.
The booklet gives more detail about the Christmas story and has seven Advent challenges.
The calendar also comes with 25 Fairtrade Belgian chocolates and a line of the Christmas story behind each of the foiled windows. David Marshall, from The Meaningful Chocolate Company, said: "By buying this advent calendar people can share the Christmas story throughout December.
This is really important as we know that detailed knowledge of the Christmas story is very low amongst children and parents. " Launching this year's calendar TV presenter, Diane Louise Jordan, said: "Not only is the calendar educational and made from Fairtrade chocolate but it's a great opportunity to raise funds to help equip and support The Funzi and Bodo Trust baby clinic in Kenya. There many people live in poverty and without access to clean water and basic sanitation.
The clinic is doing an amazing job by making sure people who are sick receive treatment and also offering new educational opportunities - which I hope will give children the chance of a better future. "See www. funzi. org. uk for more on the clinic.
Retailers include larger Tesco stores, Traidcraft, Eden, Shared Earth, CLC and a number of cathedrals. They can also be ordered from www. realadvent. co. uk.