What Was Your Favourite Ever Christmas Present? – An important question from our Happiness Ambassador, Amy
What Was Your Favourite Ever Christmas Present? – An important question from our Happiness Ambassador, Amy
What was your favourite ever Christmas gift? I’m guessing many of you will now be rummaging the archives of your childhood Christmas memories.
For me, this conjures a classic 1980’s Christmas. Prawn cocktail and 70’s glam rock Christmas songs. Limp foil garlands, elderly relatives in paper hats, dodgy fairy lights with tiny bulbs and a multicoloured plastic trims, Dudley Moore as a wayward elf…
This photo is of the first Christmas I remember, a couple of weeks in my new home. I was three. Apparently, I came careering – terrified – into my mum’s room after discovering the gifts in my bedroom that hadn’t been there when I’d gone to sleep the night before.
I don’t remember that, but I do remember that ‘Baggy Bear’ was one of those gifts, as well as this classic nurse’s uniform. My favourite ever Christmas morning discovery, however, was only loosely concealed by the bin bag in which it had been carried through a blizzard by my doting Grandad, who’d spotted it in ‘Loot’. A slightly worn Barbie campervan… complete with a bag of preloved Barbies. My grandma had patched up their clothes a bit and made some soft furnishings for the campervan using scrap fabric stitched around a sanitary towel.
The moment I glimpsed its front wheels poking out is a core memory for me. I can replay it in my mind and feel an echo of the excitement and joy I felt. It was only many years later that I learned and appreciated the labours of love that had brought it into my possession, and that my family could never have afforded to buy such treasure brand new. This realisation added a new layer of feeling to this gift.
The feeling of being cherished.
I could cry thinking about it, and if I think about the children who might feel uncherished this year because there’s simply no money for Christmas presents – I actually will cry.
Through the Bolton Family, we’re supporting the Bolton Lions Toy Appeal to make sure that no child wakes up on Christmas morning to nothing but disappointment. Whatever your own views of consumerism at Christmas, children will connect finding a gift with their name on with a feeling of being loved, special and deserving. It doesn’t have to be a lot to be meaningful, and it will be meaningful, because it’ll be the result of a labour of love of many people – strangers – a whole community, coming together to cherish that child. Their parents have enough to worry about, keeping them warm and fed and educated. Let us handle this.
Choose one of two ways.
- Donate whatever you can spare via the JustGiving link here. The link will remain open until the target is reached.
- Choose a toy, new and unwrapped, and donate it by dropping it at one of the collection points listed on this page.
Let’s all think of our favourite ever Christmas present. Remember what it meant to us and decide that, through the power of kindness, we’re going to help make that someone else’s happy childhood memory.
Thank you.
#TeamBoo
