With the festive season nearly upon us, Santa and his elves are already busy getting everything prepared to make sure every child has a magical Christmas.
As always, Santa is expecting to receive millions of letters from children all over the world with asks of what they’d like to receive in their stockings on Christmas Day.
To make sure that every child can read his reply, Santa has teamed up with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) to make his letters available in accessible formats, including braille, audio and large print, for children who have a vision impairment.
Last year, the elves sent 1,465 letters from Santa to blind and partially sighted children across the UK, helping them experience the same magic of Christmas as sighted children.
If you know a child who has a vision impairment and who would love to receive a letter from Santa, please send their Christmas letter to: Santa Claus, RNIB, Northminster House, Northminster, Peterborough, PE1 1YN.
Santa has also gone digital! Email santa@rnib.org.uk by Wednesday 22 December for an email response with a large print attachment.
Customers’ hopes of a white Christmas have been answered this week as Morrisons launches its new festive pizza range – including a Chocolate Gingerbread pizza (£2.89) hand-topped with snow-shaped marshmallows to create a mini snow scene.
The decadent toppings make for the ultimate dessert pizza, with salted toffee sauce, milk chocolate chips, mini white mallows, double chocolate chunk cookie dough and six mini gingerbread men. A luxurious choice for sweet pizza lovers and perfect for sharing with friends and family.
Available from Morrisons in-store pizza counters, the pizza is part of a new limited-edition range for customers to enjoy in the run up to Christmas.
New festive flavours include The Caramelised Biscuit pizza (£2.89) which has been created with biscuit and pizza fans in mind. The 10-inch pizza base is coated with a generous serving of caramelised biscuit spread and topped with white chocolate chips and caramelised biscuits.
And for those who can’t wait until the 25th for their Christmas dinner, the Pigs in Blankets pizza (£3.89) is topped with classic Pigs in Blankets, chicken and cranberry sauce – on a 14-inch stonebaked base with tomato sauce and cheese. The ultimate way to enjoy these festive favourites ahead of the big day.
Mark Pearson, Buying Manager at Morrisons, said: “Our customers love Christmas and they love pizza. So we challenged our foodmakers to come up with three festive flavours to spread some Christmas cheer amongst customers and get everyone excited for the festive season.”
The new Christmas pizzas will be available at pizza counters in Morrisons stores across the country. The Pigs in Blankets and Chocolate Gingerbread pizzas are available until Friday 24th December, priced at £3.89 for Pigs in Blankets & £2.89 for Chocolate Gingerbread Pizza.
The Caramelised Biscuit pizza will be available from Monday 15thNovember until Sunday 28thNovember, priced at £2.89.
Morrisons The Best Deep Filled All-Butter Mince Pies have been crowned the Best Supermarket Mince Pie in Good Housekeeping’s annual Christmas food review.
Morrisons scored more points than any other supermarket – including M&S – to take the coveted title of Best Supermarket Mince Pie and was placed higher than luxury offerings from Harvey Nichols and Prestat as well as brand-favourite Mr Kipling.
Morrisons also saw off competition from Abel & Cole mince pies, priced at £6.15 for six – more than three times the price of the Morrisons treat.
The Morrisons pies cost £2 for a pack of six – less than 35p per pie. Customers can also buy two packs for £3 resulting in an even better bargain of 25p per pie.
All the mince pies were blind tasted by a panel of experts at Good Housekeeping. The judges scored the Morrisons pies 77/100, the highest of any supermarket tested and commented that:
“The chunky filling is made up of apple, vanilla, mixed spice and orange oil, which creates a marmalade-esque appeal. Add to that a warming touch of alcohol, sweet pastry and festive star-shaped lid, and we can see why Morrisons scored so highly with our testers.”
From the Morrisons test kitchen, to zoom meetings and back to the test kitchen, Morrisons team of expert foodmakers have spent months developing the recipe to create the perfect product customers will love this Christmas.
Gareth Colling, Mince Pie Developer at Morrisons, said:“We know our customers love a classic mince pie and this year we’ve developed our recipe to include just the right balance of tangy mincemeat versus sweet shortcrust pastry.
“We’re thrilled to have been named the Best Supermarket Mince Pie by Good Housekeeping and look forward to our customers enjoying them throughout the festive season.”
Morrisons also topped the flavoured smoked salmon category with The Best Smoked Salmon with Orange Oil (scoring 79/100) and was named a runner up for Meat-Free Mains with its The Best Vegan Vegetable Wellington (scoring 78/100).
Morrisons The Best Deep Filled All-Butter Mince Pies are available in stores nationwide and online now for £2.00, or 2 packs for £3.00.
– Morrisons has cut the price of a range of toys until the end of October –
– Parents can save as much as £55 on some of this season’s must-have presents –
– Morrisons hopes the deals will help more customers get their hands on much-wanted gifts for Christmas –
Morrisons has launched a mega sale on toys in store, to help customers prepare for Christmas. The supermarket has cut up to 50% off products from popular household brands including Disney Princess, Lego, Peppa Pig and Mario Kart.
Morrisons customers will also be able to get their hands on a LOL Surprise Mega Remix Set – tipped to be one of this season’s hottest gifts – for just £75, 50% off the RRP and much cheaper than available elsewhere.
The majority of the deals, which also include a Peppa Pig Playhouse that has been reduced from £110 to £55 and Lego sets for £17.50, will be available until the 2nd November.
Unlike other supermarket toy sales, the deals will be available to all customers, without the need to sign up to any loyalty schemes.
With less than three months to go until the big day, Morrisons hopes that the deals will help customers who want to get presents sorted early.
David Catton, Toys Buyer at Morrisons, said: “At Morrisons, our shelves are fully stocked with Christmas gifts. We want to help customers bag a bargain and get the Christmas shopping sorted early so they can focus on spending quality time with friends and family during the festive season.”
Morrisons toy deals are available in selected Morrisons stores now while stocks last.
Edinburgh’s Christmas is back with a bang as St James Quarter announces the arrival of Bar Hütte’s festive experience that is set to take shape from Monday 8th November, offering a unique take on ‘Alpine Après Ski’.
Proving popular in other cities across the UK, the pop-up concept provides private holiday style chalets for shoppers to get cosy with friends and indulge in festive speciality cocktails, whilst taking part in Christmas karaoke.
Located at St James Square, customers can also enjoy live music sessions whilst sipping on a hot gin or spiced mulled wine and tucking into mince pies until Sunday 2nd January.
Inspired by previous trips to Courchevel, Zermatt and Tignes, Bar Hütte have created the look and atmosphere of traditional Alpine ski resorts. Furnished with a warm, festive décor, the super-snug ski hüttes are the perfect place to accommodate wintertime get-togethers, a post-Christmas shopping ‘pick-me-up’ or date nights with a difference.
Each private, bookable hütte includes a karaoke set-up so you and the blast out Mariah, Wham or Kylie to your hearts content.
Nick Peel, Managing Director at St James Quarter, said: “We are delighted to be welcoming Bar Hütte to St James Quarter as part of our Christmas offering. With it being our first Christmas, we’re excited to join our customers in getting into the festive spirit and what better than mulled wine and karaoke to help us do that.
“These Alpine Après Ski’ inspired huts are the perfect way to create our very own winter wonderland here at The Quarter and we can’t wait for everyone to enjoy them.”
To experience a ‘Cosy Karaoke Hütte’ for up to eight people for 1 hour 45 minutes, each hut requires a non-refundable booking fee of £60. This includes Christmas karaoke as well as a complimentary welcome ‘Bombardino’ – a warm drink made up of hot rum and eggnog topped with whipped cream & cinnamon.
Bar Hütte also has a VIP area that can cater for up to 20 people for two hours for £150. This includes hire of the space, Christmas karaoke, a welcome glass of prosecco and a Bombardino for all guests on arrival.
– Permanent and temporary opportunities available –
– Roles in distribution centres and manufacturing sites nationwide –
Morrisons is looking to recruit 3,000 new colleagues ahead of the festive season in order to meet increased demand at Christmas.
This year’s holiday season is anticipated to be even busier than usual as customers try to make up for last year’s restricted celebrations and hold multiple gatherings with their friends and family.
To help prepare, Morrisons is looking to recruit colleagues for its distribution centres and manufacturing sites across the country. The roles available range from warehouse and production operatives, to pickers and packers as well as other skilled roles such as fork lift truck drivers. Full training will be provided for all positions and so no prior experience is required.
Morrisons has also joined the Kickstart scheme meaning it welcomes applications from 16-24 year olds who are receiving universal credit.
Earlier this year, Morrisons became the first UK supermarket to guarantee pay of at least £10 per hour* and colleagues also benefit from a 10% staff discount as well as flexible hours and shift patterns to suit.
Clare Grainger, Morrisons People Director, said: “Customers have told us that they want to make up for last year’s low-key festive season and so we are working hard to make sure that our shelves are stocked with everything they need to help them celebrate.
“We are looking for 3,000 Christmas helpers to come and join our busy, fast-moving and exciting team on a temporary or permanent basis and help make good things happen this Christmas.”
Anyone wishing to apply should visit www.morrisons.jobs or call 0345 6116111
The staggering amount of waste generated at Christmas can be finally revealed, with a total of 302,913 tonnes of waste being dumped this week alone across the UK, as bins are filled to the brim.
“Even with a slightly toned-down Christmas this year, we all know how full the bins get after Christmas – it’s now clear the huge environmental impact all this waste has.
“The numbers are simply astonishing – 2,000 tonnes of uneaten cheese chucked out for example”, explains Charlotte Green from recycling firm TradeWaste.co.uk
The online survey carried out by TradeWaste.co.uk asked 4,500 people about the contents of their Christmas bins – the results are remarkable, with food waste and food packaging creating the most waste this year.
“People seem to have taken to eating well this year, with lockdowns and all the doom and gloom – it seems comfort eating has become a national institution, however nearly 5,000 tonnes of half-eaten mince pies where thrown out – seems a terrible shame to me!”, adds Green.
Christmas food lovers (and haters) chucked out this year:
141,525 tonnes of food packaging
50,544 tonnes of leftover Christmas dinners
24,600 tonnes of glass drink bottles
7,500 tonnes of drink cans
4,800 tonnes of leftover mince pies
2,000 tonnes of cheese
It is not only leftover food waste which is filling the nations bins – wrapping paper, cards, decorations. Of course Christmas trees are all being thrown out this week – all 12,000 tonnes of them.
Luckily much of the waste created at Christmas can be recycled with trees being shredded into chippings, cards being munched for paper and some wrapping paper can be recycled too.
The interesting one is Christmas lights – these should not be put in a general waste bin, instead they need to be taken to a local authority waste site and put in the small electricals skip where they can be processed.
Seasonal goods we are chucking out this week include:
30,000 tonnes of Christmas cards
17,444 tonnes of Christmas wrapping paper
12,500 tonnes of Christmas decorations
12,000 tonnes of Christmas trees
68,488 miles of broken Christmas lights
“It’s really difficult to reduce waste at Christmas, but we can all do our bit. It’s really important to split up all the waste you have and put it in the correct bin – some need to be processed differently – like broken Christmas lights.
“I just want to know who is chucking out all the mince pies, seems such a travesty!” concluded TradeWaste.co.uk‘s Charlotte Green.
After sitting down to enjoy Christmas dinner, many of us head straight to the sofa to spend the remainder of Christmas Day watching TV, playing board games, snacking or taking a nap.
It is estimated that the average person in the UK consumes two to three times their recommended calorie intake on Christmas day, so why not get off the sofa, get moving and burn off some extra calories this Christmas?
Get on your bike In 2020, there was an increase in bicycle sales. If you own a bike, why not get out for a Christmas Day cycle and make the most of the roads being quieter than usual. If your kids got bikes for Christmas, why not join them for a cycle around your local area.
Walk the dog Dog ownership increased in 2020. If you own a dog, try not to miss out on your usual walk on Christmas Day. If you normally do two walks, try to stick to the plan and don’t skip one of them. You could increase the distance of your walk to burn off a few extra calories on Christmas Day.
Dance the day away Dance floors may have been out of bounds in 2020, due to COVID-19, but don’t let this stop you from getting your groove on! Why not put on your favourite tunes and dance around the kitchen as you prepare Christmas dinner. You could put your favourite 2020 music videos on and get your household dancing in the living room after dinner.
Five ways to celebrate remotely with loved ones this year
Amid the current health crisis, Furniture And Choice shares five tips to keep up with your Christmas traditions remotely
Cooking together, craft competitions and online games among the best ways to stay connected to loved ones
While Christmas rules may allow some family members to get together, this won’t be the case for everyone and certainly not for those with large families or friendship groups.
However, there are many ways to have an amazing Christmas with friends and family even while social distancing or living on Zoom, without letting those all-important traditions fall by the wayside. Interior Style Advisor at Furniture And Choice, Rebecca Snowden, offers her top tips on how to celebrate the festive season with loved ones even if you can’t be physically together:
Take time to cook (and eat) together
The highlight of many people’s Christmas is the big festive lunch and you don’t have to miss out just because you can’t leave your home. Share recipes for what you’re planning to cook with your friends and family beforehand, to make sure you all have the same ingredients on the day. You could even assign courses to different family members if you wanted to – although you won’t be able to eat everyone’s offering!
On the day, arrange a time to video call so you can virtually make the dishes together. This is a great way to chat and feel connected to loved ones as if you’re all cooking and making something special together. There are many apps you can use to do this, including Zoom, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and FaceTime (if you all have Apple devices).
Don’t forget to arrange a time for a video call at the dinner table too, so you can sit down, have a chat and eat your meal together as a family.
Take part in a Christmas craft competition
To really get into the festivities, you could arrange a table centrepiece competition with your friends and family. There are plenty of tutorials for centrepieces online that use things you’ll have lying around the house, and it’s a welcome bit of fun for everyone to enjoy.
One person should act as the judge and taskmaster, sharing the table centrepiece tutorial beforehand and judging everybody’s attempts via a video call or picture submissions to determine who is the most successful. You could even present the winner with a virtual prize, such as a gift card.
This is a great way to have some fun with your loved ones and make something perfect for your Christmas dining table.
Create a playlist to listen to music together
To really feel like you’re sitting down to have lunch with your loved ones, why not create a playlist for everyone to listen to at the same time? You can easily create a playlist on Spotify or Apple Music, and then share this with your family and friends so you can all listen together while you’re cooking or having lunch.
To make things a little more interesting, you could create a public playlist and assign each person certain letters of the alphabet to add artists beginning with that letter. Alternatively, create a playlist theme, such as Christmas number ones, and see who can add the most songs to the playlist that fit the theme you chose.
Play online games
After you’ve eaten your lunch, what could be better than playing a game? Although you won’t be able to sit down and play a board game together as you would usually, there are lots of virtual game apps that allow you to still enjoy fun and games with your loved ones.
Try Kahoot! for a virtual quiz suitable for all the family. Each person can select a quiz category that they want everyone to play, or you can make it extra personal by creating a round specifically about your friends and family.
For something with more of a competitive edge, download Mario Kart Tour on iOs or Android to race as your favourite Mario characters with your friends and family. Fancy something more grown-up? The online version of Cards against Humanity is now available to download – just make sure there are no children present!
Watch a movie together
If you fancy something more chilled during your Christmas break, why not cosy up and watch a festive favourite with your loved ones? Thanks to apps such as Netflix Party, you can now sit and watch Netflix films together virtually – just download the extension on Google Chrome, invite your loved ones to watch a film and you’re good to go.
You can even talk via a chat box while watching the film so you can discuss and share your thoughts as you watch, so it’s a great way to stay connected to your friends and family.
Rebecca continues: “Christmas may be a huge struggle for some this year, as for many it’s a time to be around loved ones to eat, drink and be merry. While rules are allowing some people to get together, there will be many who won’t be able to see everyone they usually would, like extended family or groups of friends.
“But we shouldn’t let this spoil the Christmas spirit, we should try to adapt our plans to make sure we still feel connected with our loved ones.
“Setting up collaborative challenges, sharing recipes and engaging in a family quiz are great ways to keep spirits high and create memories you won’t forget. Why not use this time to start new traditions from the comfort of your own homes and celebrate the Christmas season in style?”
