Under embargo until 00:01 on Tuesday 4th November 2014
MAKE THE WORLD BETTER WITH A SWEATER
Friday 12th December 2014 sees the return of Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day
This year, Save the Children’s annual Christmas Jumper Day is taking
place on Friday 12th December. Now in its third year, the charity is
asking even more people across the UK to join the woolly revolution
to help ‘make the world better with a sweater’.
It’s really easy to take part - all you have to do is sign up at
christmasjumperday.org, get family, friends and colleagues involved,
make, borrow or buy a festive sweater, wear it on Friday 12 December
and donate! We’re asking grown-ups for a suggested donation of £2
and school children for £1, and to recognise your generous support,
the government will double your money – matching every pound you
give.
To help ready shoppers for the big day, from 20 September, George at Asda will sell a range of Save
the Children Christmas jumpers for men, women and children with prices ranging from £7 to £14.
The jumpers will raise funds for Save the Children’s vital work in the UK and will be available to buy
in Asda stores nationwide and online at George.com. George at Asda is the official retail partner for
Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day and the partnership is aiming to raise over £750,000.
Beyond Retro will stock a range of vintage festive knitwear, from Nana-knits to Nordic pullovers,
which all carry a donation to Save the Children and are available from stores in London and Brighton
and at beyondretro.com from 1st September. Then people can knit their own Christmas jumper by
downloading a pattern from Deramores.com from 1st September, which carries a donation to Save
the Children. Pets can also join in the fun as Pets at Home is selling Christmas jumpers for dogs with
a donation to Save the Children, available from stores nationwide and at petsathome.com from 5th
October.
This year, a whole host of celebrities are co-knitted to Christmas Jumper Day. Fearne Cotton, Union
J, Paul O’Grady, Collabro, Isla Fisher, Myleene Klass, Rosie Fortescue, Mark Wright, Jess Wright,
Kate Thornton, Dom Joly, Ashley Jensen, Laura Mvula and her band, Jon Snow, Bruno Tonioli,
Natasha Kaplinsky and Alex Jones have all popped on a pullover and posed for photographs in their
festive woollies to mark their support for the campaign.
Save the Children is also once again taking Christmas Jumper Day to all new fashion heights with a
Secret Christmas Jumper Sale – a brand-new collection of 30 one-off, festive sweaters hand-knitted
by Wool and the Gang and customised by some of the world’s most famous British designers
including David Koma, Giles Deacon, Haizhen Wang, Jonathan Saunders, Lulu Guinness, Lyle &
Scott, Mary Katrantzou, Mother of Pearl, Pringle of Scotland, Sibling, Teija Eilola, Zoe Jordan and
alumni from London College of Fashion.
The jumpers will be sold in support of Christmas Jumper Day and because the designers and fashion
students have all secretly sewn the labels onto the inside of the jumper, you won’t know who has
designed your jumper until you have purchased it!
And if you’re looking for even more ways to help raise money for Save the Children and you’re bored
of your festive sweater from last year, why not host a Jumper Jumble? The idea is simple, you invite
friends, family, colleagues and fellow school pupils to bring along their old, unwanted Christmas
jumpers and swap them with one another. These can take place at home, in school or even in the
office, on a date of your choosing before Friday 12th December. Everyone who participates is asked
to donate £2, to raise funds for Save the Children’s vital work in the UK and across the world. If the
public want to get involved but don’t have time to host their own event, Save the Children are also
hosting a celebrity Jumper Jumble sale at Westfield Stratford on 18th November. Celebrities will be
donating their Christmas Jumpers which you can swap with your own in exchange for a £2 donation
to Save the Children.
All money raised from Christmas Jumper Day will go towards helping the most vulnerable children in
the world. Globally, 6.6 million children still die before their fifth birthday every year, most from
easily preventable illnesses like malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia. Some don’t survive simply
because they can’t get enough nutritious food.
Here in the UK, 3.5 million children are living in poverty. Too many families here can’t afford
nutritious food, heating, household essentials like a cooker, or good quality childcare. While their
peers come to school well fed, well rested and well prepared to learn, these poorer children are
missing out on a fair start in life.
By supporting Save the Children and taking part in Christmas Jumper Day and donating just £1-£2,
you’ll help save lives in some of the toughest parts of the world, and give children living in poverty
here in the UK the chance to fulfil their potential. Just £1 could buy antibiotics to treat three
newborn babies with potentially deadly infections and £2 could buy 18 sachets of oral rehydration
treatment for children suffering from life-threatening diarrhoea. And with match funding from the
government this year, your donation could help twice as many children, so there's never been a
better excuse to get everyone participating!
For more information and to sign up visit www.christmasjumperday.org
Facebook - www.facebook.com/ChristmasJumperDay
Twitter - @savechildrenuk #xmasjumperday
Notes to Editors
For press enquiries please contact:
Fay Hoyland – f.hoyland@savethechildren.org.uk/ 020 3215 3429
About Save the Children:
Save the Children works in more than 120 countries. We save children's lives. We fight for their
rights. We help them fulfil their potential. www.savethechildren.org.uk
About UK Aid Match:
UK Aid Match was set up by the UK government's Department for International
Development (DFID) to give a boost to public support for charities working in the
developing world. It doubles public donations to appeals run by British
international development charities, in recognition of both the public’s generosity
and the wide range of causes they support.
Through UK Aid Match, the government will double all donations made by the
public to Save the Children’s Christmas Appeal between 1st October and 31st
December 2014 up to a total value of £5m. The match funding grant from DFID will
be used to fund Save the Children’s work in Kenya which provides trained staff and
peer education to help pregnant women and mothers access healthcare, and to stop newborn
babies dying unnecessarily.
About George at Asda:
George at Asda is the official retail partner for Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day and the
partnership is aiming to raise over £750,000 to help give disadvantaged children in the UK the
chance to fulfil their potential.
As one of Britain’s best-loved retailers, George has been changing the face of British fashion for over
20 years. As the first supermarket to launch its own clothing brand in 1990, George at Asda is now
sold through more than 560 Asda stores across the UK, has an online business with over 800,000
customers a week, and employs 10,000 people across the country. It is now also a global brand,
exporting the best of British design to 35 countries, with ranges sold in around the world including
Canada, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Japan and the US, and through franchises in the Channel Islands and
Middle East and online in Europe.
About Wool and the Gang:
Wool and the Gang is a British-based fashion brand that believes in exceptional design that's
#madeunique, with love and never from a factory. Wool and the Gang’s Christmas Jumpers were
hand knitted by their Gang of knitters. The brand has made knitting cool, with millions of fans from
around the world taking up their knitting needles. The brand has attracted celebrity fans including
Cara Delevingne, Jade Parfitt, Jemima Kirke and Erin Heatherton. For more information please visit
www.woolandthegang.com
About my-wardrobe
The my-wardrobe site is the website for those in the know. If you're looking for a little 'everyday
luxury' look no further, the price points are competitive and offer customers an easy choice of
carefully curated products.
Launched in 2006, the multiple award winning website aims to simplify the shopping experience by
bringing customers the best edit of the season, as picked by our expert team of buyers. The site sells
brands such as Michael by Michael Kors, Joseph, Acne, Ash and Carven to name but a few. Last year
saw the launch of London Lab, a dedicated area of the site specifically geared towards supporting
bright British talents such as Preen, Michael Van Der Ham, J W Anderson and Etre Cecille which has
grown from strength to strength.
my-wardrobe has also built up a strong celebrity following with brand ambassadors who have
blogged, written and been featured within the editorial content of the site. The newly launched
Denim Boutique is the 'go to' destination to find a style that suits.
For press contacts please e mail alex.bowen@my-wardrobe.com
About London College of Fashion:
London College of Fashion's rich heritage, and responsiveness to changes in design practice, has
positioned it as a leading global provider of fashion education, research and consultancy. The
College's work is centred on the development of ideas. Its staff and students use fashion alongside
historical and cultural practice to challenge social, political and ethical agendas. A forward-thinking
business and management portfolio, and relationship with the global fashion and lifestyle industries,
reinforces the College's mission to "Fashion the Future." Alumni include JW Anderson; Ryan Lo,
James Long; Jessica Bumpus (Vogue.com), Jimmy Choo OBE, William Tempest; Lucas Nascimento;
Sarah Harris (Vogue); LK Bennett and Harold Tillman. Please visit: http://www.arts.ac.uk/fashion/