HOW SCHOOLS CAN MAKE THE WORLD BETTER WITH A (SOCIALLY DISTANCED) CHRISTMAS SWEATER!

Christmas Jumper Day is back! And whilst it may look a little different after a challenging year, Save the Children is hoping that flashing, festive knits will still be sweeping the nation on Friday 11th December, creating much needed Christmas cheer and a chance to raise money for the world’s most vulnerable children in the UK and around the world.

People have got a lot of fun to catch up on this festive season. So whether they’re at school, nursery or a youth group, we’re calling on children across the UK to swap their uniforms, for their silliest, most wonderful woollies and donate £1 each.

In 2019, 13,660 schools and nurseries across the UK took part, helping to raise more than £4.1 million. With the Coronavirus crisis continuing to affect children and families around the world, Save the Children is hoping that people up and down the country find new and exciting ways to get involved this year.

To ensure every child can take part, Save the Children is encouraging schools to organise crafting sessions to show pupils and parents that they don’t need to invest in a new knit each year. Instead, they can dig out some sequins and pom poms and jazz up last year’s Christmas woolly – or even their normal school jumper.  

Schools can sign up at www.christmasjumperday.org and they will receive a free fundraising pack, full of handy tips on planning a great day, in a Covid-19 secure way. Here are some other ideas to raise more money and make the day more fun, whilst staying safe:

  • Get crafty with last year’s jumpers! Kids can grab an old sweater and cover it with stickers, tinsel, tin foil or whatever sparkly stuff they can find. Or hold a jumper-decorating session at school
  • Swap shops are a great way of recycling old jumpers and not buying new! If schools do want to arrange swap shops make sure all knits are freshly washed and left for 72 hours
  • Leave cash for 72 hours after collecting it and wash hands for 20 seconds after handling
  • As parents and caregivers might not be allowed into school in the coming months, Save the Children has created a JustGiving page for schools this year as an alternative way to donate their £1. A link will be included in each fundraising pack.
  • If you are planning on taking a Christmas jumper filled classroom picture remember to keep a two metre distance

All money raised through this wacky woolly-wearing could help give a child living in a refugee camp clothes to keep them warm through winter, help buy nutritious food for their entire family, or set up a safe space to give children the chance to be children again. It could also help bring essentials like healthcare, education and protection to children around the world to give them a better start in life.

Infact, £1 could pay for antibiotics to treat five children suffering from pneumonia, one of the biggest killers of children in South Sudan, £2 could provide a week’s worth of water for a displaced family in Yemen and £10 could buy antibiotics to help five children beat malnutrition.

Help us make it the biggest, most jingly and joyful Christmas Jumper Day ever.

https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/christmas-jumper-day

For Facebook visit – facebook.com/christmasjumperday

For Twitter visit – @savechildrenuk #christmasjumperday