Christmas Jumper Day 2026 – All You Need To Know For 10th December

2026 has been some year. One of the hottest summers we can remember, the World Cup, and that’s just for starters. Before we all know it, Christmas Day will be here. But before that, mark your calendars up for Christmas Jumper Day 2026. There is no better way to get in the festive spirit than Christmas Jumper Day, which falls on Thursday the 10th of December this year. We can’t wait. Millions of people across the UK will pull on their brightest, boldest and most questionable knitwear, all in the name of charity. Wear a festive jumper, make a donation, help children in the UK and around the world by raising money for Save the Children.

Whether you are organising the day for your office, planning activities for a classroom, or simply wondering where the whole thing came from, you’re in the right place. We’re going to cover absolutely everything you need to know for Christmas Jumper Day 2026.

Grab a mince pie and settle in. Or if you prefer, jump straight to the section that interests you the most:

• When is Christmas Jumper Day 2026?
• What is Christmas Jumper Day?
• The History of Christmas Jumper Day
• Where Does the Money Go?
• How to Organise Christmas Jumper Day at Work
• Christmas Jumper Day Ideas for Schools
• DIY Christmas Jumper Ideas
• Where to Find a Christmas Jumper

When is Christmas Jumper Day 2026?

Christmas Jumper Day 2026 takes place on Thursday 10 December 2026. That is the official date set by Save the Children, the charity behind the event.

That said, don’t be worrying if that date doesn’t work for your school or workplace. Save the Children actively encourages people to pick a day that works for them. Think of the official date as a guideline, instead of a hard and fast rule. Wearing the jumpers and donating is what really matters.

Here’s a bit of trivia that might come in useful for a Christmas-themed pub quiz. The event ran on Fridays from its very first outing in 2012 right through to 2021. From 2022 onwards, it’s been held on Thursdays. With more and more workplaces adopting home working on Fridays in the post-COVID world, this is a good move if you ask us.

What is Christmas Jumper Day?

Alright, we all know that you have to wear your most outlandish Christmas Jumper on the day. That part is obvious. But what really matters is that Christmas Jumper Day is Save the Children’s biggest fundraising event of the year. The idea behind it could not be simpler. You wear a Christmas jumper for the day, you make a donation to Save the Children, and you get to be a part of the feel-good factor of the whole occasion.

The traditional suggested donation is £2 per adult and £1 per child at school. These days, Save the Children asks people to give what they can. Ultimately, that is all that matters, as we all know how difficult the cost of living in the UK has become. Every jumper and every donation adds up.

Anyone can take part. Offices, schools, community groups, sports clubs and groups of friends all sign up each year, and Save the Children provides free resources, which is fantastic to help raise awareness. These resources include posters, activities and fundraising tools, all of which help make the day a success. Donations are usually collected through JustGiving fundraising pages, which you get when you sign up on the Save the Children website.

And those donations add up. Seriously. Since 2012, Christmas Jumper Day has raised more than £42 million. Forty-two million British pounds. That is some going for donning a Christmas jumper for the day.

The History of Christmas Jumper Day

Now for a brief history lesson. What of the origins of Christmas jumpers, we hear you ask? Well maybe you didn’t ask, but you are about to find out anyway. Here is the whole journey at a glance, from Nordic fishing boats to the biggest charity knitwear event in the UK calendar:

The Timeline

The History

Want the full story behind each chapter? Let’s take it from the top. The Christmas jumper has had quite the journey. Its roots trace back to Scandinavian knitwear, where thick, patterned woollen jumpers were worn by Nordic fishermen to keep out the cold. What started as a way to stay warm at sea slowly made its way into winter wardrobes around the world. The distinctive festive patterns, geometric shapes and snowflakes have become a staple at Christmas time.

That really accelerated in the 1980s, when the novelty of a Christmas jumper as we know it took off. As with most things, television and popular media really helped bring it to prominence. You couldn’t change channel during the festive period without seeing a presenter or actor repping a Christmas jumper.

It wasn’t all plain sailing for the humble Christmas jumper though. By the 1990s, the look had firmly fallen out of favour. A reputation had been (unfairly) earned that Christmas jumpers were misjudged gifts that were destined to sit at the bottom of your drawer for eternity.

The Christmas jumper needed a hero. A saviour. A knight in shining armour to instigate a revival. And it came in the most unlikely of formats. Bridget Jones’s Diary. Mark Darcy’s reindeer number in Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001) reminded everyone how endearing a naff knit could be. North America took that sentiment and ran with it, and the ‘ugly Christmas sweater party’ trend ripped through the region in the early 2000s. Bad knitwear was a badge of honour. The tackier the jumper, the better. Ever since, Christmas jumpers have enjoyed a resurgence and no Christmas quite feels complete without this attire. Thanks Mr Darcy.

So what of Christmas Jumper Day? Well, Save the Children saw an opportunity to turn all of that festive fun into something more meaningful. The first official Christmas Jumper Day was held on Friday 14 December 2012, under the slogan ‘make the world better with a sweater’. And the rest as they say, is history. It has been an annual fixture ever since and has fast grown into one of the biggest charity events in the UK calendar.

Where Does the Money Go?

Every donation goes to Save the Children. They are a fantastic organisation, and there is no better charity where your money could go to over Christmas, or the rest of the year for that matter. The charity works in the UK and internationally, focusing on keeping children safe, healthy and learning. They are directly involved in many areas, including education, health, food security and emergency response.

Let’s give you a scale of that impact. Christmas Jumper Day 2025 raised £2.6 million. A fantastic effort. But how did that actually help children around the world?

Save the Children said that total could provide over a million packets of drought-resistant seeds for families in Kenya, hundreds of thousands of supermarket vouchers to help children here in the UK, and safer births for mothers in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

All of that from a nation pulling on its silliest jumpers for one day. Some effort.

How to Organise Christmas Jumper Day at Work

So how can you be a part of this all? Running Christmas Jumper Day at work is one of the best ways to support this brilliant cause. You might be surprised to learn that it takes very little effort. Save the Children does a lot of the hard work for you. No harm in planning though, so here is a bit more information on the process:

How to set up Christmas Jumper Day at work:

It can feel daunting letting everybody know about the day. But that’s one of the most important parts. Sometimes it can be easier to soft launch in work group chats and get a few of you to spread the word. And there is one idea that is always a hit in the office. A best jumper competition. It costs nothing to run and gets everybody more engaged. For larger workplaces, consider running some categories like funniest, the tackiest and the best homemade effort. Don’t forget the team photo either, as this is always a hit on socials.

Some organisations take it even further, with matching custom jumpers with your company logo as an option. In our honest opinion? Matching logo jumpers can feel a bit corporate if that’s all they are – let the team add their own flair to the design and it becomes the best of both. If you’re reading this and thinking along that line, at least offer your team the chance to get creative with their Christmas jumper. Trust us, it’s a lot more fun this way.

Christmas Jumper Day Ideas for Schools

If Christmas Jumper Day has a spiritual home, it’s the school playground. Thousands of schools take part every year, and honestly, nobody does festive enthusiasm quite like a class of primary school children in December. It just has that something extra special about it, you know? Save The Children lean into that as well, which helps. They offer dedicated school resources which take most of the planning off teachers’ plates. This includes assembly plans, activity sheets and posters – all the good stuff which makes organisation easy for teachers and schools.

The normal format itself is also simple by design. Pupils wear a Christmas jumper instead of their usual uniform and bring a suggested £1 donation. From there, you can build the day out however suits your school.

Christmas Jumper Day activity ideas for schools:

Not every family will have a Christmas jumper at home, and nobody should feel left out. A jumper swap, a decorating session with donated plain jumpers, or a relaxed ‘wear something festive’ approach means every child gets to join the fun. Keep it inclusive, and keep it fun.

DIY Christmas Jumper Ideas

You do not need to buy a new jumper to take part. In fact, we’d argue many of our personal favourites spotted in the wild were actually homemade. Upcycling a plain jumper you already own is cheaper, more sustainable, and much more fun. It’s honestly one of the best ways to spend the evening over Christmas, and seeing what monstrosities you can conjure up together. It’s something that Save the Children actively encourages, and we are all for it.

Any plain jumper makes a good canvas. The older the better if you plan to get liberal with the glue. Charity shops are full of budget-friendly options if you cannot bear to sacrifice one of your own.

Our favourite ways to festive-up a plain jumper:

Now for a couple of tips, and these are from experience: 


• Sewing beats glue if you want the jumper to survive the wash
• Always remove fairy lights before laundry day


Beyond that? The only rule is that there are no rules. The more over the top, the better. Get silly, get creative, and have fun. We can’t wait to see what you cook up.

Where to Find a Christmas Jumper

Still stuck for ideas? Don’t count yourself as the crafty type? That’s okay, we can’t all be the next Picasso. There are loads of ways to get your hands on a Christmas Jumper, so let’s run you through the best options.

Charity shops should be your first port of call. Come December, the rails fill up with festive jumpers at lovely prices, and your money does good twice over. Save the Children’s own charity shops and online shop sell secondhand jumpers too, which is rather fitting.

Organising for a group or workplace? Fancy a professionally printed jumper with your own design, text or photos? Designing your own custom Christmas jumper online is the way to go.

There is something rather special about a whole team, class or staff room in coordinated festive knitwear. And there is also nothing quite like letting the experts bring your design to life with a professionally printed jumper.

At My Personalised Clothing, we print custom Christmas jumpers with no minimum order and free UK delivery on every order, so whether it is two of you or two hundred, we can help.

Our personalised Christmas jumpers come in 17 festive colours with sizes running from XS right up to 5XL, while our personalised kids Christmas jumper covers ages 1-2 all the way to 12-13 in 14 colours. Both are equally cosy 280gsm sweatshirts with a brushed fleece inner – warm enough for the big day, comfy enough to live in all winter long.

Upload your own photo or design, add a name or a festive message, or dig into the Christmas cliparts on our online design tool. And if a jumper is not quite your thing, our personalised hoodies and custom sweatshirts take a festive design just as well.

Yes, the high street and supermarkets have you covered if convenience is the priority. But in our opinion it’s just a bit boring, and you are much better off buying from a charity shop or creating something that is uniquely yours.

The bottom line is that it doesn’t matter how you find your jumper. Nobody really cares if you have the latest Marks & Spencer jumper or something pulled from the charity shop. What matters is taking part and giving to a great cause.

Ready for Christmas Jumper Day 2026?

And that is everything you need to know. You are now an expert in all things Christmas Jumper Day, and we congratulate you. But one last time for the diary, Thursday 10th of December 2026. Get inspired. Get your office, school or friends on board and raise money for Save the Children. Pull on your knitwear, donate what you can and enjoy one of the most feel-good days of the year.

We hope this guide has helped, and if you need a Christmas jumper for the day, you know where we are.

You can donate directly to Save the Children here: https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/donate