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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Frances Ryan

Welcome to Britain’s Victorian Christmas, where volunteers in Santa hats fulfil the basic functions of the state

illustration by Nathalie Lees

“Will Santa find me?” a subject line in my inbox asked last week. I wondered briefly if my niece had moved to email with her questions about the logistics of gift delivery. In fact, it was from Refuge: a Christmas appeal for children spending the holidays with their mums in a women’s shelter.

Over the past fortnight, I’ve seen more marketing for charities than supermarkets: from Instagram ads by Crisis hosting Christmas dinner and support for homeless people to X posts by Action for Children hoping to get gifts for kids whose parents can’t afford one.

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