It may be controversial but I have to declare I’m not a fan of the workplace tradition of Secret Santa. There I’ve said it out loud. Many of my colleagues past and present are aware of this and know not to grace my desk when it comes to anonymously picking a recipient.

Too many times my husband James has come home declaring he needs to sort a Secret Santa Gift. His team used to be so large he wasn’t particularly well acquainted with his selected recipient. For me this is what’s fundamentally wrong with ‘SS’- the concept of buying a gift for someone you don’t know. Surely the whole idea is that the recipient doesn’t have an idea who their gift is from, not that you don’t have a flipping clue who the person is you’re buying for! Many a time I have found myself in a well-known department store inspecting the ‘novelty’ section (or as I like to call it ‘the-soon-to-be-landfill’ section) looking to buy John from Accounts his Secret Santa gift. Last year was a particular highlight; due to pre-festive illness Manjit’s Christmas mug with its own festive jumper was actually opened on the first week in January. Landfill right there.

It’s hard to get my point across about Secret Santa without sounding ungrateful and offending the person who has been lumbered with buying me a gift. Let’s just say my first experience of SS was rather memorable as I think my gift was ‘purchased’ from the sender’s own home. I’ve actually received some really lovely anonymous gifts but in this particularly instance I felt there had been a distinct lack of effort and it left a really sour taste. Don’t even get me started on telling you about the year I had to buy a £5 gift for my Director. Potential career suicide all thanks to a ‘bit of fun’.

Some would tell me to get over myself. Christmas is for giving isn’t it, not receiving? Too true but I think there must be another way to get in to the festive spirit.
A couple of years ago my sister’s work introduced the idea of a Christmas Fairy. Like Secret Santa each colleague was randomly assigned, however rather than buy a gift they anonymously spread goodwill. Whether it was a sachet of deluxe hot chocolate left on their desk or motivational notes left in lunch boxes, the month of December was spent being an anonymous little guardian angel. I love this idea, it’s far more thoughtful than buying a plastic reindeer complete with chocolate droppings. (I can say that because I’ve bought one).

So am I mean scrooge or does anyone else feel the same way? What’s the best gift you’ve given for Secret Santa and the most random person you’ve had to shop for?