In days gone by, Christmas was seen as a time for almsgiving and Boxing Day (26 December) is a remnant of this custom. The OED traces the earliest print attribution of the term to 1833, which is four years before Charles Dickens referred to it in The Pickwick Papers. Boxing Day (St Stephen’s Day) became an official bank holiday in England and Wales in 1871 and in Scotland in 1974.

There are two theories about the origin of the term. It has been postulated that it arose from the alms boxes that were placed in churches during the Advent season to collect contributions from parishioners for the needy and destitute. Another theory is that Boxing Day derives its name from the ‘Christmas boxes’ that upper class households distributed to their staff, which were filled with money, small gifts and Christmas leftovers and rewarded them for their service throughout the year.

Nowadays Boxing Day is seen essentially as a time to recover from Christmas excess, watch sport on television and possibly indulge in a visit to the Boxing Day Sales. The custom of shops throwing open their doors on Boxing Day emerged in the 1990s when Sunday trading laws were liberalised. A frenzy of retail therapy and self-indulgence seems a far cry from the charitable origins of this bank holiday.

Nonetheless, Christmas is still seen as a time of year when charity should be uppermost in people’s minds, and the traditional practice of Boxing Day giving has now been extended to the weeks running up to Christmas.

In addition to making Christmas donations to favourite charities, it is customary at this time of year to offer thanks for services rendered over the past twelve months. In the days when each household was serviced by a regular postman, milkman, rubbish collector, grocer, and so on, it was traditional to give each person a generous Christmas tip. These days the situation has changed: many of us do not have regular postal deliveries, we encounter dozens of different couriers over the course of year, our contacts with rubbish collectors are perfunctory and we buy milk from the supermarket.

However, for those of us who do employ people on a regular basis, for example cleaners, babysitters, gardeners, now is the time to put our hands in our pockets and reward them for services rendered. When handing out tips face to face, eliminate the awkwardness of proffering cash and simply put a note or two in an envelope with a Christmas card, and write a note of heartfelt thanks.

Christmas Thank you Recommendations

Nannies/Au pairs: These invaluable employees are almost part of our family and are entrusted with our precious children. They certainly deserve a reward at Christmas and should not be fobbed off with cheap and tacky presents.

Give your nanny or au pair the equivalent of a week’s wages at Christmas. Also give them a present, perhaps saying it’s ‘from the children’.

Babysitters: If you have a regular babysitter who you use throughout the year, it’s a good idea to give him/her a cash gift at Christmas. The amount would depend on the regularity with which you use them and the amount you pay – an extra £20 would be generous.

Cleaners: Another invaluable helper throughout the year, your cleaner deserves a proper Christmas bonus – at least a week’s extra wages would be appropriate. You might also like to give them a small gift (plant, bottle of wine, scented candle, soap, chocolates).

Gardeners: If you employ a gardener/handyman regularly throughout the year, then treat them in the same way as you would a regular cleaner. If they help on a seasonal basis (ie the summer months) you should not feel obligated to reward them at Christmas.

Milkman: If you do still receive milk deliveries (and all the other items that are delivered with your milk these days), it is customary to tip the milkman during the Christmas season – a tenner wrapped up in a note saying “thanks and happy Christmas” will make an adequate gift when he collects the empties.

Postman: If you’re lucky enough to have a regular postie you might feel moved to reward him/her, especially if delivering to your house involves negotiating a long drive, an uphill climb, aggressive dog etc. A £10 tip would be generous.

Your Children’s Teacher: There was a time when parents of children at infant and junior school bought their class teacher a Christmas card and a small gift (e.g. bottle of wine, soap, box of chocolates, house plant).  Nowadays, these gifts for class teachers and teaching assistants are usually organised on the class WhatsApp group and given by the whole class, so that the teachers and TAs don’t find themselves inundated with thirty mugs/plants/or boxes of chocolates. Parents usually contribute £5-10 each, depending on how many TAs there are.