Christmas Jumper Day Date in the current year: December 11, 2025

British social reformer Eglantyne Jebb and her sister, Dorothy Buxton, founded the Save the Children Fund in 1919 to help starving children in Austria-Hungary and Germany during the Allied blockade of Germany, which continued even after the Armistice in World War I. Since then, Save the Children has grown to become one of the world’s largest international NGOs. The organization raises money to support children around the world through health, education, and protection programs.

Christmas Jumper Day is one of Save the Children’s biggest fundraising events. Launched on December 14, 2012, the event has been held every year since, helping raise over £40 million for vulnerable children. The event is held on a specific day in December, announced by Save the Children in advance. However, people are encouraged to wear a Christmas jumper and donate at any time if that specific day doesn’t work for them.

The easiest way to participate is to wear your favorite Christmas jumper to draw attention to the campaign and donate at least £2 to Save the Children. This sum will hardly make a dent in your budget, but it can make all the difference for a vulnerable child. If you cannot afford to donate £2, this is totally okay. You can donate less or participate by wearing a Christmas jumper and spreading the word.

Some people buy new Christmas jumpers for the day, but you don’t have to if you already own one. In recent years, Save the Children has emphasized sustainability, encouraging participants to wear an existing jumper, transform a regular jumper into a Christmas jumper by decorating it, buy a secondhand jumper, or knit one. You can make upcycling an old jumper a fun activity: get together with family, friends, or coworkers and decorate jumpers for each other.

Christmas Jumper Day is popular with workplaces and schools because groups can sign up for the fundraiser as a team and organize additional activities. After signing up, they receive access to additional resources to make Christmas Jumper Day even more fun. You don’t have to represent an organization to sign up; family groups are welcome to join as well. Participating alone without signing up is fine, though. What matters is that you give what you can.

Although Christmas Jumper Day is especially popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland, you can participate from anywhere in the world because Save the Children operates internationally. If you can’t donate to Save the Children, consider supporting a local charity or volunteering in your community instead.

* date for 2025