Christmas Jumper Day 2026: the date, the charity and what to wear
Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day falls on Thursday 10 December 2026. What to donate, where the money goes and what to wear without buying a jumper you will wear once.
Christmas Jumper Day 2026 is on Thursday 10 December 2026. It is Save the Children UK’s yearly fundraiser: you wear a Christmas jumper to school, to work or at home and make a donation, with a suggested £2 for adults and £1 for children. At least two other UK charities run their own jumper days the following day, Friday 11 December, so check which one your school or office has signed up to.
When is Christmas Jumper Day 2026?
Save the Children has set the 2026 date as Thursday 10 December, and its FAQ adds that you can choose another day if that one does not suit. The first Christmas Jumper Day took place on Friday 14 December 2012.
Save the Children had not published a 2027 date when this article was written. If you see 11 December quoted for 2026, it is one of the other charity jumper days below or a mistake: 11 December 2026 is a Friday.
Other charity jumper days in the same week
Christmas Jumper Day is a Save the Children campaign, but other charities use the same idea on their own dates.
| Charity | 2026 date | Suggested donation | Who it helps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Save the Children UK | Thursday 10 December | £2 adults, £1 children | Children in the UK and worldwide |
| Ben | Friday 11 December | £3 each | People who work or have worked in the UK automotive industry |
| Candlelighters | Friday 11 December | 50p each | Families of children with cancer in Yorkshire |
What Christmas Jumper Day raises money for
The money goes to Save the Children’s work with children in the UK and in other countries, to help them stay safe and healthy and keep learning. The charity puts the total raised since 2012 at more than £42 million. The 2025 edition raised £2.6 million.
To make the 2025 total concrete, the charity gives equivalents:
- 1,300,000packets of drought-resistant seeds for families in Kenya
- 260,000supermarket vouchers for children in the UK
- 325,000safer births for women in the Democratic Republic of Congo
How much to donate and how to pay it in
- Suggested donation: £2 for adults and £1 for children.
- Signing up: schools, workplaces, community groups and groups of friends can register on the Save the Children website, though you can take part without signing up. Schools and workplaces get posters and activities, and schools also get lesson plans and assembly presentations.
- Collecting: the organiser sets up a JustGiving fundraising page, so colleagues can give online, including those working from home that day.
- On your own: give through a friend’s or colleague’s page, or donate on the charity’s website.
What to wear for Christmas Jumper Day
The day asks for a Christmas jumper, not a new one. Save the Children itself suggests finding a secondhand knit instead of buying new, and a jumper you already own, borrow or decorate counts just as much. If you do buy, choose one you will wear every December; the Christmas clothing collection groups knits, novelty jumpers and hats in one place.
Rewear, swap or decorate
- Last year’s jumper, or one borrowed from a sibling, a parent or a flatmate.
- A plain jumper made festive with felt shapes, pom-poms or a tinsel collar, attached with safety pins so it goes back to normal in January.
- A swap: outgrown children’s jumpers passed on at the school gate, or a swap rail in the office the week before.
If you buy one, check the knit
A Christmas jumper earns its price when it comes out every year, so read the fibre label before you look at the pattern.
| Type | Warmth | Care | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acrylic knit | Warm | Machine washable, dries quickly | Usually the least expensive; can bobble after many washes |
| Wool or wool blend | Warmest | Wool cycle or hand wash, dry flat | Keeps its shape for years; pure wool can itch on bare skin |
| Cotton knit | Light | Machine washable | Easier to wear in a heated classroom or office |
| Printed sweatshirt | Light to medium | Machine washable | No loops to snag, so it suits young children |
| Light-up or sequinned | Depends on the base | Remove the battery pack first; hand wash sequins | Keep spare button batteries away from young children |
For adults, compare knits in women’s Christmas jumpers and men’s Christmas jumpers. Slogan, 3D and light-up designs sit in funny and novelty Christmas jumpers, and our guide to the best Christmas jumpers compares the main styles.
Children at school
- Check the school’s rule first: some ask for the jumper over normal uniform, others make it a non-uniform day.
- Pick something machine washable, since lunch comes before home time.
- For nursery-age children, skip jumpers with bells, small buttons or pom-poms that could come off.
- Write the child’s name in the label: jumpers come off at playtime.
At work
A patterned knit (Fair Isle, reindeer, snowflakes) suits any office; keep slogan jumpers for teams that enjoy them. If you have a video call that day, a Santa hat or a festive headband shows up on camera even when the jumper does not.
Christmas Jumper Day ideas for schools and offices
A few small activities around the jumper give people a reason to donate a little more. None of these needs a budget.
| Idea | Where | How it raises money |
|---|---|---|
| Best and worst jumper vote | School or office | Each vote costs a coin in the bucket; announce the winners at lunchtime |
| Jumper swap rail | Office or school hall | Take a jumper, leave a donation |
| Design-a-jumper drawing contest | Primary school | Small entry donation; the winning designs go on the class wall |
| Mince pie and gingerbread sale | Both | Sold at break time or with the afternoon tea round |
| Festive quiz | Office | Entry fee per team |
| Team photo | Office | Posted with the JustGiving link so colleagues at home can give |
For the team photo, a row of Santa hats or jumpers in the same colours from our Christmas clothing range makes a group read as one team, even when every jumper is different.
Jumper or sweater: why the British say jumper
In British English, a jumper is a knitted pullover. In American English, a jumper is a sleeveless dress worn over a blouse, which British English calls a pinafore dress. Americans therefore talk about Christmas sweaters, and the loud novelty ones are ugly Christmas sweaters.
The word goes back to jump, a mid-17th-century name for a short coat worn by men, possibly from the French jupe (skirt), itself traced to the Arabic jubbah, a loose outer garment. Jumper was in use for a loose jacket with sleeves by 1853. The dress sense dates from 1967 and is short for jumper-dress, recorded from 1907.
Frequently asked questions
What day is Christmas Jumper Day this year?
Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day 2026 is on Thursday 10 December. Ben and Candlelighters hold their own jumper days on Friday 11 December. If your school or office has picked the 11th, ask which charity the money is for.
When can you start wearing Christmas jumpers in the UK?
There is no rule. Many people wait until 1 December or until the tree goes up, and Christmas Jumper Day 2026 falls in the second week of December. At work, check the dress code before wearing one on an ordinary day.
How much do you pay for Christmas Jumper Day?
Save the Children suggests £2 for adults and £1 for children. Ben suggests £3 for its own jumper day and Candlelighters 50p. Save the Children says a JustGiving page set up for the day is the easiest way to collect.
Who started Christmas Jumper Day?
Save the Children UK launched it, and the first one took place on Friday 14 December 2012. The charity says the campaign has raised more than £42 million since then.
When is Christmas Jumper Day 2027?
Save the Children had not published the 2027 date when this article was written. Check the charity’s Christmas Jumper Day page: the 2026 date was already there by early October 2026.
How does a primary school take part in Christmas Jumper Day?
The school signs up on the Save the Children website and receives posters, activities, decorations and lesson plans. On the day, children wear a Christmas jumper and donate, with £1 suggested per child. Parents can pay in directly through the school’s JustGiving page.
What do Americans call Christmas jumpers?
Christmas sweaters, and the loud novelty ones are ugly Christmas sweaters. In American English a jumper is a sleeveless dress worn over a blouse, which British English calls a pinafore dress.
Why do the British call it a jumper?
The word comes from jump, a 17th-century name for a short coat worn by men, possibly borrowed from the French jupe. Jumper was in use for a loose jacket with sleeves by 1853, and British English kept the word for the knitted pullover.
