Colin's XXXXXXXL Xmas Jumper Day 2021!

Happy Almost Christmas!

Do you remember last year? Like, the whole of last year? Was a bit strange, wasn’t it?

We’ve erased large portions of it from our brains because the majority of it was uncertain, and a little bit rubbish. However, a lot of good DID come out of it, so it’s not all been wiped from our minds. And we hope you had some good parts, too.

To be precise about the remembering thing - do you remember when we made that massive Xmas Jumper out of knitted squares sent in by our amazing community of Cheeky Panda fans? All for the sake of raising money for Save The Children?

If you don’t remember it, or you’re new here (welcome!), here’s a picture:

Now, we considered making another one of these mammoth woollen things this year to raise even more money for Save The Children, however, we got the old one out of the cupboard and a thought hit us – why would we use so much material again just to make something that’s worn just a few times each year? That’s not very sustainable, is it friends? So, it’s time for a bit of Out with the new, in with the OLD!

Our beloved jumper was covered in dust (it’s clean now, don’t worry) and we thought: maybe we just use this one again? Add some extra bits, some sparkly tinsel, and a touch of festive glam and it’s pretty much as good as new, or as good as old.

Besides, that’s better than using all that resource and effort to make another dust catcher in the office store cupboard.

We’re willing to bet that you have a bunch of old Christmas Jumpers in your cupboard too, haven’t you? Don’t deny it, we’ll know you’re lying. In fact, our friends at HelloHubbub did some research, and it turns out that 1 in 3 under 35s buy a new Christmas Jumper every year and 2 in 5 will only be worn once over the festive period.

So that means a lot of jumpers are stashed away in our cupboards from previous years to be rarely worn again.

Reduce, Reuse, Upcycle!

So, what we’re suggesting is, if you already own a festive woolly jumper, wear it again, OR upcycle it into something new. That way, manufacturers don’t need to make new jumpers every year for them only to be chucked in the cupboard after one or two wears.

This festive season, we’ll be providing you lot with some lovely tips and tricks on how to do just that, from some knitting experts, so keep an eye out for that.

Our friends at Save The Children even have their very own web page dedicated to upcycling tips and tricks all in the name of sustainability!

If you’ve already dusted off your old jumpers, congrats, you’re on the nice list this year.

Those of you who’ve just ordered a new jumper already, you’re on the naughty list. Sorry, coal under the tree for you.

Just kidding, there’s not much of that left, (especially after the COP26 talks), a new jumper is totally fine, just maybe consider wearing it again next year? 

If you’d like to rock a ‘new’ Christmas jumper this year without buying one, consider borrowing one from a friend, or head to a charity/vintage shop and pick one up second hand – you’ll be avoiding buying a fast fashion option, plus the super retro ones look AMAZING.

Help us raise money for kids who need it most!

Once again this year, we’ll be raising money for Save The Children as part of our XXXXXXXL Christmas Jumper Day! So please head to our donation page and give what you can, if you can. We’d love to beat our £782 raised last year. 

We’ll be taking Colin out in his massive Christmas jumper to two locations:

1^st December – Monument, near London Bridge

8^th December – Chinatown, Soho

For every picture Colin is tagged in on social media, we’ll donate £5!*

By pulling on our Christmassy knits & donating, we'll be transforming the future for children. Every pound we raise will help kids in the UK & around the world get the basics they need to laugh, play & see the magic all around them again!

Just £20 could help a child sparkle in the classroom - paying for a back-to-school kit in Indonesia.

For more information on Save The Children's Christmas Jumper Day, please visit ChristmasJumperDay.org. 

For Facebook visit – facebook.com/christmasjumperday

For Twitter and Instagram visit - @savechildrenuk #christmasjumperday

* T&Cs: Post an image of Colin in his XXXXXXXL Xmas Jumper to social media (including stories) and tag @CheekyPanda to participate in our fundraiser. For each image posted and tagged, £5 will be donated to Save The Children's Christmas Jumper Day campaign. One donation per post, reshares not included. Promotional Period: 1^st December 2021 09:00 AM to 20^th December 2021 08:00 PM.