As 2018 draws to a close, it’s nice to relax and ready ourselves for the Christmas festivities. We’re still here, and we’re still writing business and dealing with customer service enquiries; but we’re also finding the time to partake in a few festive traditions.
Take a look below, and let us know what your traditions entail!
Christmas Party
We held our Christmas Party on Saturday 15th December this year around Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent. Silly outfits, multiple venues and a fair few beverages. A good night was had by all.
If you’d like to see more on our celebrations, check out our post here: Christmas Party 2016
Christmas Jumper Day
Each year we participate in a Christmas Jumper Day to raise funds for charity. In past years it had been for Text Santa [http://www.itv.com/textsanta], contributing to the £32 million raised for 25 charities. In recent years the national attention has shifted to Save the Children [https://christmasjumperday.org/] charity drive. This years official Christmas Jumper Day was December 14th for the Save the Children initiative. 100% of the money raised is given directly to the charity. In 2018, the current amount raised sits at £449,757.
Secret Santa
No work festivities would be complete without a Secret Santa. For anyone who doesn’t know, this is a Western Christmas tradition. All participating staff have their names put into a hat; whoever you pull out, you must anonymously get a gift for. Typically there is a set budget to ensure the exchanged gifts are of similar value. In an office full of mischievous colleagues who like a laugh and tease, the gifts often are wildly inappropriate and NSFW.
Christmas Buffet
Pretty self-explanatory, but we like to throw a buffet for all the employees to enjoy. Each staff members takes ownership of a particular item from a list, and then on the specified date, everyone turns up with their chosen item(s). The canteen becomes overrun with various plates, bowls and boxes of treats and goodies; and shortly thereafter, with ravenous employees. Feeding time at the zoo, anyone?
Christmas Drinks
After locking up the offices at 13:00 on Christmas Eve, we declare ourselves closed until December 27th. We then head off for some well deserved social drinks and toast to our good health at a nearby venue.
What Christmas traditions do you have? Be sure to let us know on our social media.
Don’t forget to check our amended Christmas Opening hours on last weeks post visible here:
Christmas Opening Hours, 2018