Santa is a very busy man and let’s face it, he cannot always get it right. Who would expect things to be any different with so many people to accommodate and all in such a short space of time?
And anyway ‘tis the season of ‘goodwill to all’ so we would all be quiet disappointed if we didn’t get at least one howler in our Christmas stocking! After all, that is the true spirit of Christmas, the gift of giving, as so perceptively captured by the late, great, poet laureate Sir John Betjeman’s in his Christmas poem –
The sweet and silly Christmas things,
Bath salts and inexpensive scent
And hideous tie so kindly meant.
Research by ‘Gumtree’ identified that nationally we sit on £24bn unwanted Christmas presents a year, equating to £48 per person. Unsurprisingly the most unpopular gifts to receive are clothing and accessories, beauty products, toiletries and jewellery. A check of eBay on 4th Jan revealed 1,044 items listed as ‘Unwanted Christmas Presents’.
One solution is to ‘regift’ to another friend or family member but that can be very risky. A much more rewarding outcome is to give it to a charity. West Sussex Mediation Service is very willing to take such gifts off your hand. They are used to working in a confidential way as they help people in conflict resolve their differences through mediation. They won’t be expecting you to mediate with the original giver of the gift however! If you would like to donate any unwanted gifts to a good cause they can be contacted on 01403 258900 or info@wsms.org.uk