Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) has announced its first festive fundraiser – aimed at including as many hospital staff as possible.
Explaining why the focus is on Christmas socks and not jumpers, Bec Beattie, public campaign and event manager for ACT, said: “We know that nursing staff aren’t able to wear Christmas jumpers, but they CAN wear Christmas socks!
“Festive Sock Day is a fun and easy way for people to support ACT. Hospital staff, schools, businesses, members of the public – everyone can jump on board for this annual festive event, launching this year – and best of all, it’s really easy to take part.”
Ruby Grimwood, PA to the Pathology Directorate at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, said: “Christmas socks with a lab coat helps bring a splash of colour to a serious environment.
“In Pathology, it’s important for us to keep a sterile and clean environment when handling patient samples, but also to protect ourselves from any hazardous materials. This means that we all have to wear lab coats to avoid contamination and keep ourselves safe. Christmas socks are a great way for the team to show some festive spirit and add some colour to our labs whilst still keeping up with our uniform standards.”
Businesses can also join in – and just like hospital staff, ACT’s Festive Sock Day allows businesses who might not normally be able to wear Christmas jumpers to take part in a bit of festive fun too.
One of ACT’s Corporate Partners, Cambridge Commodities in Ely, has already signed up – with lots of fun, fundraising activities planned throughout the day. CEO James Stevens said: “As a high-quality, food-grade facility, a lot of our staff are unable to wear festive jumpers due to how comfortable they are combined with PPE so we were so excited to see that ACT was launching a Festive Sock Day! What a wonderful idea to have a fully inclusive day where every member of staff can join in, don some festive colour whilst supporting a great cause.”
Festive Sock Day will take place on Thursday 4 December. Anyone feeling inspired to ‘Join your Docs in Festive Socks’ can sign up here.
