Each winter, one older person dies every seven minutes because of the cold weather. #SecretSantaSacrifice, created by global social media agency We Are Social, will ask the thousands of people spending £5 on an awkward novelty Secret Santa gift to help put a stop to this by donating that money to Age UK instead.

To take part in the campaign, people can visit secretsantasacrifice.co.uk and select a ‘gift’ from a range of virtual tat, such as a turkey hat or a novelty pants. Then after entering their chosen donation amount and completing the transaction through Just Giving, they can share their virtual gift with the intended recipient on Twitter, Facebook or by email.

The money raised for Age UK will go towards vital local and national winter projects helping older people stay warm and well in the winter. We Are Social is hoping that the campaign will encourage other agencies and businesses to think about how they can better spend their Secret Santa £5 this year.

Charlie Cottrell, editorial director at We Are Social, said: “No-one actually likes doing the office Secret Santa – it’s a mandated waste of £5 on novelty items that goes in the bin five minutes later. There are much better causes we could be spending our money on, one of which is making sure older people are warm this Christmas. Age UK is brilliantly set up to reach the most vulnerable people, and we hope that any support we can offer them will make a real difference to older people during the winter.”

Secret Santa Sacrifice is a campaign created to support Age UK, and does not affect any existing agency relationships.