A quick one on the domestic front:

Darragh Doyle is doing a sponsored skydive to raise money for elder-care charity CARE local. This sounds like great craic and Darragh is, as always, up for anything whacky. I was also impressed by the €800 raised in donations until I realised the jump is this Friday and Darragh has €2,200 more to raise.

Charities are not only hardest hit in a recession, they’re also first hit in a recession. Donors give less money to fewer causes, and programmes and support shrink exactly when most charities’ clients need them most. Unfortunately, it’s the local, work-a-day charities with low profile and small donor bases – like this one – who often have the roughest time of it.

Honestly, it’s not every day a guy offers to jump out of a plane. If you can, it would be nice to throw a donation at Darragh to support his rather heroic (and hilarious) efforts here.

Also, if I’m reading this right, if we raise enough money, Darragh will stop telling really, seriously, painfully bad jokes on Twitter. That alone is worth twenty quid.

Update: He jumped and raised €2,139! Great video here.

You know that deeply irksome trend where people make charitable donations on your behalf instead of giving gifts? Well, we’ve done that very thing with you in mind, dear Internet. You were going to get coal in your stocking, but instead we’ve stuck a few bucks in the g-string of the following very worthy online organisations this year.

• Wikipedia: Does anyone not use Wikipedia? There is simply no better, more accessible or better resource when you suddenly need to know who the hell Lansana Conté is at 4 o’clock in the morning.
• Electronic Freedom Foundation: A lot of current issues including DRM and network neutrality emanate in the US. A donation to EFF helps to fight the good fight on the front lines of the battle for electronic privacy and freedom.
• MySociety works to make government open to the public – transparent, accessible and accountable . The code base it’s built on is similarly open, and is what John is using to bring some of this kit to Ireland.
• Scarleteen: Because abstinence only sex education simply does not work, and no matter how good your relationship with your mum, you probably don’t want to be asking her any questions that include the word “lube.”

If you’re looking to give in the spirit of the season but don’t know where to drop off your hard earned dollars, euros, or drachmas, you might consider the above. Organisations like these can take a beating during a recession, but unless you’re planning to give up your internet connection, your digital rights or sex in the face of economy, we hope each of these organisations will make your 2009 a better place to be in some way.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night.