Gift-buying problems solution

Now that the shops are filling with Christmas displays, there must be many who have no idea what presents to buy their nearest and dearest. Items of clothing, CDs and DVDs and handy little gadgets will all be greeted with a smile and a thank you, then find their way down to the charity shop come January.

There is a solution to the "present" dilemma. It lies in a handy little catalogue called Oxfam Unwrapped, through which you can buy fishing nets, a mango plantation, mosquito nets, a market stall, school dinners and much, much more with prices from £5 up.

I will confess that my own coveted present is a "brilliant bog" (or latrine in ordinary language). I found the excuse to buy one for my son for his 40th birthday - not that he actually received the loo you understand - just a fridge magnet with a picture of it while the actual object went to someone bereft of such facilities.

Heather Williams, Bishop's Castle