Christmas 2020 in Covidland

How to plan ahead and make the most of the Christmas 2020 festive season affected by the Corona virus.

Christmas 2020 Shopping and Delivery

Without a doubt there will be a massive increase in online shopping and home deliveries for Christmas this year. Will you still wrap your own present and send it or will you opt for the less personal – but let’s face it easier – direct delivery from the retailer?

Although many retailers provide ‘gift messaging ‘ and gift wrap, they are mostly not handwritten – being printed as part of the delivery label, so they just don’t have the impact of handwritten messages.

Last Posting Date for Christmas 2020

This year may be the year that you actually increase the number of Christmas Cards you send to your friends, family and customers to make up for not seeing them in person, adding a few extra lines of news will add a warm touch to the card, so write a few a time to keep the writing fresh. The problem is when should you send them? The last posting dates for Christmas 2020 will most likely be brought forward so all those ‘last minuters’ (you know who you are) would be better-off posting a little earlier this year!

Self-Isolating Santa – Does he have a contingency plan for Christmas delivery?

Santa may be delayed as he passes international borders having to self-isolate for 14 days, we have it on great authority however, that he has a contingency plan to ensure that presents will arrive in time for Christmas morning with Lapland allegedly having a specially negotiated air corridor to allow for reindeer drawn sleighs!!

Virtual Work Christmas Party

You may argue that this reduces the risk of embarrassment, for a sackable offence after you tell your boss how you really feel or the potential over use of the photocopier, but as many people have not been in the same room as their colleagues for months, this will be a ‘strange’ affair. Social Butterflies will have to find a new platform and you wall-flowers can relax and take a year off!

Pantomime Season

In the main most pantos are cancelled – Oh yes they are. This is not only very sad, but for theatres across the UK this will have massive negative impact as Panto season brings in the largest revenue across the year. Spare a thought for the arts and SUPPORT your local theatre.

Christmas – Let’s allow screens at dinner just this once?

As we all wait for what will be as always, a heart-warming but clearly covid influenced Queen’s Speech this year, you might want to plan how you can have the whole family together for your Christmas dinner when potentially only 6 of you will be able to meet.

Perhaps a scheduled ‘TEAMS’ lunch – In many cultures it is expected to set an extra seat at the table, perhaps this year we can use this spare seat for your laptop/tablet and have a shared simultaneous celebration with your remote relations.

At least this way you avoid the need to cook for many, and avoid the need to compensate for everyone’s individual dietary needs! We just need to work out how to pull a virtual cracker. The jokes might actually be better?? At least if your internet has lag, then you can blame it for a delayed guffaw!!

Board Games – Socially Distanced!

I doubt if anyone will release a new game in time for Christmas called ‘The Covid Bubble’. Going back 5 spaces and self-isolating for 14 days, is a bit like being sent to Jail in Monopoly. Will this game allow you to pay £50 or provide a “Covid Free” test result as the alternative to a get out of Jail free card? Take a ‘chance’ and get sent to Coventry (the city not the street) for your nearest test centre!

Charitable Causes

There will be less ‘charity bucket shakers’ on the high street, and unless your local carol singers are 4 part harmony quartet, “We wish you a merry Christmas and a  happy new year”, will not resonate around shopping centres this year. Charitable donations are set to reduce this year and the forecast for good causes is rather bleak. Do something proactive and actively seek out a local charity to make an online donation. The charity will benefit more this way than receiving change in a bucket as giftaid can be claimed and your chosen charity will receive an additional 25% giftaid contribution benefit as a result.

Corporate Entertainment

How will your organisation demonstrate your appreciation and thanks to your customers this year?

Meeting up is unlikely and unless you have their home address sending a bottle of wine is not feasible. Delivery to the office is only going to be welcomed by the security guard – most gratefully!

Romax this year will not be organising corporate gifts or sending cards to empty offices. Instead we will be making a donation charity. As the recession starts to hit harder there will be increased good causes and we will let you know in later communications who we will support this year.

Happy New Year!

As we enter 2021 with or without a Brexit deal, amidst the clouds of the Covid epidemic, the best new year’s resolution will be to secure a working vaccine so that we can start to emerge into what we all hope will be a prosperous new year. We can take many positives from 2020, what was in many ways an eye opening and pivotal year, a year of sadness but a year of great resilience and innovation too. So, let’s hope for a silver lining and a bright start to 2021 against the backdrop of a rather gloomy 2020.