For the 13th December 2019 Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day, Walberton Nursery decided it wasn’t enough to simply ask staff to wear a Christmas jumper for the day, and went one step further.
Operations Manager, Simon Green, agreed to dress up as an Elf in exchange for donations… that was before he realised he had a day full of inter-company meetings to get through. But being the excellent sport that he is, because Simon shook on it, he honoured the agreement to raise money for Save the Children.
Simon the Elf started his day at a not-so-festive Packaging Meeting with a number of sensibly dressed Farplants colleagues. For some reason they couldn’t take him seriously, it may have been the bells jingling round his neck every time he moved. Simon the Elf then went about his usual day of meetings, roaming the sites checking on staff and jobs, and making a general nuisance of himself by trying to get involved in nursery jobs. He made time in his busy schedule to pose for selfies with staff in exchange for more donations and ended the day with a meeting about the Christmas Party. He even extended his act into the evening, when the Walberton Managers met for a pre-Christmas drink, turning quite a few heads among the pub regulars.
Simon the Elf landed £215 from colleagues across Tristram Plants and the Farplants Group. Fleurie Nursery also raised money through their more classic Christmas Jumper day, and added another £50 to the pot, making for a very worthwhile £265 contribution to the Save the Children cause.