Secret Santa
Help us spread some Christmas cheer…
Welcome to our Secret Santa page!! (Or Kris Kindle, we’re not precious) What we are precious about is strengthening Ireland’s creative community this Christmas. There is something really special about receiving a thoughtful gift from a like-minded person so we would love to make this a reality within our community.
Would you like to be someone’s Secret Santa within the creative community this Christmas? Yes, it means you’ll be allocated a Secret Santa who’ll be asked to send you a gift too.
Rather than focusing on buying presents, we’d love for you to share a piece of work or something you’d like to pass on that may have inspired you. Here are some examples:
- You could create a gift, maybe a visual artwork or poetry.
- You could share a piece of your work, perhaps performance tickets or merch.
- You could gift a pre-loved piece of art, perhaps a book or a record you loved.
More suggestions below but you’ll probably be better at thinking of something suitable!
If you’d like to take part, please fill in your Name, Email address, Social Media Name and Postal Address below. Only people who Follow one of our social media accounts will be included. We will then put your name into a hat where you’ll be selected at random to become another one of our Follower’s Secret Santa. We’ll email you their name, social media name, email address and postal address, then the rest is up to you.
All the team at Minding Creative Minds thank you for taking part in spreading cheer among our community this Christmas. We wish you and yours a very merry Christmas.
Please note, there are limited places available to participate but we’ll do our best to include as many people as we can. Unfortunately, you are not guaranteed to receive a gift, once we pass your details onto your randomly selected Secret Santa, it is up to them to get a gift to you so it’s out of our hands. For that reason too, Minding Creative Minds will not be aware of and has no control over what you receive from your Secret Santa.
In January we will delete all addresses given to us unless you choose to be on our mailing list.
Closing date for applications: Tuesday, December 11th @ 11pm
Examples of presents:
- If you’re a performer or live crew member, you could gift two tickets to your gig or perhaps some merch.
- If you’re a journalist, you could publish a Happy Christmas message to the person, perhaps sending them a video of the broadcast or link to the online message.
- If you’ve been inspired by a record or book that you’re willing to part with, that would make a great gift for someone in the community.
- If you’re a writer, you could perhaps send one of your books to the person or simply send a sample of your work, maybe poetry or a short story.
- If you’re a visual artist you could maybe send a drawing or artwork to the person.
Hopefully the above will give you some inspiration.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does this cost?
It doesn’t cost anything to take part in but you will most likely have to pay postage to whomever you get. That said, they may be within walking distance if you were able to deliver by hand or you could send your gift by email if appropriate.
Do I have to use my own postal address?
You can use whatever postal address you like, once you have access to that address and can receive your gift from it.
Is it anonymous?
Secret Santas can decide themselves if they want to reveal their identity to the person they send the gift to. You could send a note with your name alongside the gift if you like.
Is there a maximum amount of money to spend on the gift?
We ask that you don’t focus your gift on buying something for the person, we’d like you to be creative and think about what you can create or what element of your creativity you can share with the person. Or you could share a pre-loved piece of art with them.
Why do you need my email address?
We would use your email address to tell you whom you’ve received in the draw and we’d like to pass this onto your Secret Santa too in case there’s any issue getting the gift to your postal address.
What if I change my mind after opting in?
Please only sign up for this if you’re confident you’ll have the time to organise a gift for the person you’re drawn. If you change your mind, it means the person you’re allocated won’t receive anything while they’re likely to have put a lot of time into sending off a gift to the person they were drawn.
Do you have to be living in Ireland to participate?
Yes. Although if you’re working overseas for Christmas, you’re still welcome to take part. Bear in mind, we don’t want your Secret Santa to feel obliged to have to pay expensive postage and packaging fees so we’ll leave it up to them whether it is something they are able to do. They may decide to send you an electronic gift via your email address instead.
If you have a question that hasn’t been answered, please email it to secretsanta@mindingcreativeminds.ie.