Regardless of the Pandemic, we’re getting fired up for Christmas Jumper Day here at Save the Children!
And who can blame us. Because after the year we’ve all had (#2020), the idea of coming together – virtually, or in person – with school friends, work colleagues and family members, and raising money to support the great work Save the Children does at home and overseas, feels like something we can all get on board with.
Raising money to fund Save the Children’s work couldn’t be more needed this year. Because while lots of us will be looking forward to a cosy Christmas’ with some of our family members when restrictions are lifted, Christmas can put a huge amount of strain on parents who don’t have a lot of money.
Only last week, Save the Children published a survey that showed that more than a third will rely on food parcels this Christmas, and 84% said that Covid costs will make Christmas a real struggle. But we’ve also spoken to lots of parents about their experiences, including Becka, who we campaign alongside:
“My sister-in-law is going to give us a chicken for our gift this year, as my daughter really wants a roast dinner. For everything else, we rely on our local church who give us food parcels. It’s food that the supermarket can’t sell so it’s luck of the draw what we get – sometimes it’s just some out-of-date bread and a lettuce. But even if it’s out of date, it’s at least something. I don’t know what we’d do otherwise”
Just take that in for a minute. Christmas is meant to be a time for getting together, but for many parents it can be stressful and upsetting, and leave parents and children feeling excluded, and under a lot of strain.
That’s why it’s important to us that Christmas Jumper Day doesn’t create extra stress for families, and leave children feeling left out because they can’t afford a new Christmas Jumper.
This year, we’re working with schools to encourage them to re-use and decorate old jumpers using anything they can get their hands on. Cotton wool makes excellent snow, and the inside of crisp packets are brilliant shiny stars! Subject to Covid restrictions we also suggest schools host jumper swaps to create a culture of not buying new every year and ensuring everyone can take part.
But we believe we need to go further. For an organisation committed to upholding children’s rights, it’s vital we ensure every aspect of what we do – programmes, policy, and campaigns like Christmas Jumper Day – don’t perpetuate the exclusion that children in poverty, and their parents, face.
That’s why last week, myself and our Christmas Jumper lead, Poppy Lloyd, met an incredible organisation called Poverty Proofing, to hear their reflections on how we can make sure Christmas Jumper Day is more inclusive in the future. Poppy and I are committed to working with Poverty Proofing to think about how we can make Christmas Jumper Day more inclusive in 2021, Christmas Jumper Day’s tenth year.
We can all do our bit in helping to ensure we’re not adding to this pressure some families feel, and helpfully we’ll be doing our bit for the environment too. This Friday make sure you dig out a jumper from last year, and maybe even swap it with a friend, in our shared effort to support children in the UK and around the world.
And don't forget it's not too late to sign-up for Christmas Jumper Day.
