For the kids
Organise your own grotto and raise money for a charity of your choice. It’s a lot easier than it sounds and after an initial outlay for Santa’s suit and some Christmas lights, it can become a fun annual tradition and a great way to catch up with friends, family and their little ones. All you need is a room with an armchair, decked top to bottom in all your tackiest, flashiest Christmas decorations; one jolly Santa (white Snazaroo facepaint is your friend for dark eyebrows or locks!); and a pile of modest pressies (charity shops are ideal for these, or you could ask guests to bring a wrapped gift for under a few euro). An instant camera adds to the magic, but you can also email digital photographs afterwards, or see if your local pharmacy or camera shop will sponsor your prints to send to your guests.
For the big kids
All of the above is equally applicable for adults - just add mulled wine. Guests can bring wrapped presents for the Naughty or Nice pile and pay for their photo op with the Big Man, or you can ask them to bring a gift for a children’s charity instead. Either way, big kids are just as excited about meeting Santa and it’s a great way to raise funds. Even easier to organise is a Christmas Jumper Party - at home or in the pub - with all competition “entry fees” going to charity and prizes for the best/worst jumpers.
Speaking of Santa
Remember the no-make-up selfie? Well now it's Santa's turn. Donating to BUMBLEance, Ireland's interactive ambulance service designed specifically for children, couldn't be easier. Take a festive photo of yourself your loved ones (with or without Santa), text "STAR" to 50300 to donate €4 to BUMBLEance, then post the picture on social media using the hashtag #SantaSelfie and tag @MummyPages and @BUMBLEance. Finally, nominate three of your family, friends or colleagues. See bumbleance.com for more.
Christmas dash
For the past 30 years, the Goal Mile has been organised in locations across Ireland. The idea is simple: run or walk a mile, in or around Christmas Day, and make a donation or raise funds for Goal's work worldwide. While Goal is always looking for volunteers to organise local Goal Miles, it's probably a little late to arrange an official event for this year (contact Alan on avard@goal.ie or 01-2809779 for details). But there's nothing to stop you organising a group of friends, family or neighbours (you can even get the kids and dogs involved) to take part in an existing event. See goalglobal.org/events/event/goal-mile for locations in Ireland.
Christmas Day dip
If you're feeling a little brrrrrr-raver, grab your togs and head to the sea for a traditional Christmas Day dip - a hot whiskey will never taste so good! The 40 Foot in Sandycove, Co Dublin, is something of an institution, but the country is awash (ahem) with stunning swimming locations. Just make sure it's safe - lots of local charities arrange supervised Christmas Day swims, including Cope in Galway at Blackrock, Salthill, 10am to 1pm (copegalway.ie), Cork Simon (corksimon.ie) at Whitebay, in east Cork at noon, and the RLNI at Clontarf Yacht and Boat Club in Dublin at 12.15pm (clontarf.ie/events/annual-rnli-christmas-swim).
