Want to attend a Carol Service or Midnight Mass? Ask Google!

Are you thinking about attending a Carol Service or Midnight Mass this Christmas? 

Then you can take a look on Google (or Bing, etc) to check out what is available in your area. Just use search times like "Christmas Midnight Mass near me" "Carol Service near me" or "Christmas church service near me." 

Baptist, Methodist, Church of England, Church of Wales, Church of Scotland, Pentecostal Churches, Catholic Churches, Salvation Army Citadels, etc, etc, many of them are holding Carol Services and Midnight Masses throughout the Christmas season.

An opportunity to sing carols, wear your Chirstmas jumper and meet up with people! 

(Image courtesy of Niek Verlaan and Pixabay)

TfL is reminding customers to take advantage of the great value Hopper fare this Christmas

Thanks to the Mayor's Hopper fare, customers can make unlimited bus and tram journeys within one hour of touching in. This means customers could potentially get the majority of their Christmas shopping done at some of London's best shopping locations for just £1.65, the price of a single journey.  

Some of London's most famous shopping destinations can be visited within the hour of all thanks to London's iconic buses. For a single bus fare, shoppers could: 

visit One New Change, the premier retail centre in the heart of the City, then hop on the route 8 to get to the famous Spitalfields Market for one-off vintage items, and board the route 26 to visit independent boutiques at Columbia Road 

hop from Covent Garden, to Oxford Street via the route 98, followed by a ride on the route 94 to get to the Notting Hill boutiques, with the added bonus of antique shops on Portobello Road Market only a short walk away 

jump on board the route 73 from Upper Street, Angel, and head towards Coal Drops Yard, before boarding the route 214 to visit Camden Market for a mix of gifts to suit everyone 

Five buses wrapped with a festive twist are now in operation across the capital and will hopefully bring a smile to Londoners and visitors during winter. The eye-catching white buses are covered with snowflakes, stars and TfL's iconic station roundels - almost like gift wrap - with the names replaced with some of the fun activities people can see and do this festive season including London lights and last minute shopping. 

A further 13 buses have had a roundels panel installed at the back to spread some extra festive cheer. The buses are in service on selected routes around the capital passing through Wood Green, Camberwell, Putney and more, and some even have LED lights, providing an extra twinkle as they take passengers from A-Z.

TfL has also put together a list of the best bus routes to enjoy London's most spectacular Christmas lights displays, and a Christmas lights Tube map. Both are available on the TfL blog by visiting londonblog.tfl.gov.uk/festive-bus-routes/. The free TfL Go app also features seasonal things to do. Throughout December customers can discover festive activities and events all across London when planning a journey by tapping "Where to?" within the app.

Seb Dance, Deputy Mayor for Transport said: "As we are in the busy festive period Londoners can enjoy the Mayor's Hopper fare which allows passengers to take unlimited bus or tram journeys for just £1.65 within one hour of touching in. Passengers may even find themselves on a specially wrapped festive bus, which are now in operation across the capital  as they visit the many amazing places London has to offer this Christmas.

"Buses are London's most affordable and accessible transport option - it's why the Mayor stepped in to save the vast majority of routes proposed to be cut due to the Government's funding conditions. I'd encourage everyone to hop on our bus network which has a central role to play in building a better, greener and fairer city for all Londoners."

Julie Dixon, TfL's Customer Director, said: "We hope that our eye-catching festive buses bring some extra cheer to Londoners and visitors in the run up to Christmas. The cost-of-living crisis means every penny matters more than ever, so we hope that customers will take advantage of the great value Hopper fare this winter." 

The Hopper fare gives passengers unlimited journeys on buses and trams for £1.65 made within one hour of touching in and also applies to discounted rate travel. Passengers must touch in using the same card or device on all journeys to automatically get the Hopper fare.

25 Years of The Lights of Christmas

Every year is magical at The Lights of Christmas, but this is the 25th year of the event which brings another level of significance. This year is about more than dazzling lights, breathtaking displays, and the yummy comfort food. 

For the 25th anniversary, we want to honour and remember all those who helped make the event so memorable for countless families across the Pacific Northwest.

“The 25th Anniversary of The Lights of Christmas is a special time because we get to look back and celebrate what God has done through this event. We cherish the memories and traditions created over the years and look forward to making more in the future years," said Kayla Castiglione, The Lights of Christmas Director.

Once again, this year The Lights of Christmas will present... A Drive-Thru Christmas. The drive-thru format will lavishly celebrate the meaning of Christmas through new and classic displays while striving to be as accessible as possible. You don’t need to leave the comfort of your car to enjoy this festive spectacle!

This year will also feature an expansion to Santa’s Village allowing people to park, stretch their legs, have some silly fun, and purchase merchandise!

The Lights of Christmas opened this year on November 25th and run through select nights through December 31st.

Tickets must be purchased online before arrival. More information can be found at

www.TheLightsofChristmas.com, or by phone at 800-228-6724. 

When is the best time to do your Christmas shopping? Lidl has the answer!

Ahead of a festive shopping surge, Lidl GB advises its customers about the optimum time to stock up on all the very best Christmas goods on offer. As the discount store anticipates a spike in shoppers in the run-up to Christmas, this update will help customers plan ahead and pick the best times to shop.

In the week leading up to Christmas last year, data found the quietest times to shop at Lidl was between 8am and 10am, and from 6pm onwards. Meanwhile, the middle of the day was the busiest, with stores seeing the highest levels of footfall between 12pm and 2pm. Lidl The is expecting to see similar trends this year as customers visit their local stores to get their festive favourites and all that the Middle of Lidl has to offer. 

The supermarket’s sweetest showstoppers include its Deluxe Dark Chocolate & Salted Caramel Cottage and Deluxe 24 Month Mature Christmas Pudding, while its Hortus Clementine Winter Light-up Gin Liqueur or its Elixiris Champagne Montaudon are also sure to go down a treat. Not to forget the all-important dinner staples, including fresh turkey, as well as potatoes, parsnips, carrots and spouts, which are priced at just 19p each.

Customers are encouraged to use the Lidl Plus app where they can check how busy their local store is in real-time, allowing them to avoid the festive crowds. The app also offers customers exclusive weekly rewards and discounts for their next shop after they’ve scanned their digital card at the till, with discounts of up to 25% on selected products. 

And this year, in the spirit of Christmas, the discounter has been offering customers a new coupon every day throughout December, ensuring Lidl GB shoppers get the most bang for their buck. 

Here at That's Christmas Christmas wouldn't be the same without the Lidl Panettone, the Lidl Stollen , the Lidl mince pies and the Lidl Speculoos Chirstmas biscuits! 

www.lidl.co.uk

Want a real Christmas tree at a nice price? Check out Aldi

Time to get the baubles and fairy lights at the ready, as Aldi’s 100% British grown Christmas trees are back by popular demand. Priced from just £14.99, Aldi’s popular Nordman Fir Christmas trees are available in two sizes.

Aldi shoppers can make 'fir' massive savings compared to other tree retailers including B&Q where a 150-180cm Nordman Fir Cut Tree will set shoppers back by £38, that's more than double the price of the Aldi equivalent. 

What’s more, customers can be assured that all live Christmas trees sold by Aldi have been grown in the UK, with all trees in Aldi’s festive range coming from a sustainable plantation in the heart of Scotland.

www.aldi.co.uk

Retailers brace for a "Black" Christmas as even Black Friday deals fail to win back shoppers

Home delivery expert ParcelHero says November’s unexpected drop in retail sales could be a sign of a Black Christmas for retailers.

Today’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) retail sales results show an unexpected fall in the amount of goods sold in November, despite the allure of Black Friday deals. 

The amount of goods Brits bought in November fell by -0.4% compared to October and tumbled -5.9% compared to November of last year.

ParcelHero says these latest figures are a particular blow as they include Black Friday’s results, normally a good indicator of how well Christmas is likely to go for retailers.

ParcelHero’s Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks M.I.L.T., says: "Looking at the overall parcel volumes for late November we feared Black Friday had been something of a clunker, and that seems to be the case. Experts had been talking of a 0.3% uplift in sales in November but that didn’t happen.

‘Perhaps even more concerning, even though Brits bought fewer items in November, we actually spent 0.5% more than in October, and 4.2% more than in November 2021. That’s the impact of galloping inflation, and also indicates there were fewer bargains around over this year’s long Black Friday period."

He went on to say: "The gloss has certainly been taken off Black Friday sales. There was a notably lower seasonal spike in sales this November, compared to 2021, and online sales suffered as a result. The value of goods we bought online this November collapsed by -5% compared to last year, even though we actually spent 0.6% more than in October, reflecting the lack of great Black Friday online discounts.

"Online sales did manage to cling to their 26.2% overall share of the entire November retail spend, however. That’s been the case since May and shows that, at least, we now know the new “normal” for online shopping post-pandemic.

"The only crumb of comfort we can offer retailers is that the volume of parcels booked this week through ParcelHero has spiked significantly. We may be experiencing a late jump in online spending as shoppers brace themselves and reluctantly start last-minute Christmas shopping.

"ParcelHero has re-launched our popular Christmas tool in the nick of time for a late online surge. Shoppers can now discover retailers’ final online order dates in time for Christmas, find out the last mailing dates for presents to UK and international destinations, and see handy packaging and Customs clearance hacks to help ensure gifts reach their destinations in time."

To check the easy-to-use retailers’ final order and final mailing dates tool, see: https://www.parcelhero.com/events/christmas-gifts-delivery

(Image courtesy of cdz and Pixabay)

Massive Christmas savings on Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and Apple iPhone Pro Max

As a pre-Christmas treat, Vodafone is offering customers a gigantic £564 saving with the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and a £296 saving with the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Available from 16 December (00:01) to 20 December (23.59). Both offers are on a 36-month Phone Plan and 24-month Airtime Plan.

illustrative photo of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra in burgundy

Save £564 on device and airtime. £41 monthly. £49 upfront.

close-up photo of the rear cameras on the iPhone 13 Pro Max

Save £296 on device and airtime. £47 monthly. £29 upfront.

Terms and conditions apply. please check with Vodafone for details.

For more information about Vodafone UK please visit: www.vodafone.co.uk.

Incidentally I already own a Samsung S22 Ultra through Vodafone and it's an absolutely phenomenal piece of kit which I can strongly recommend. I will make an excellent Christmas present for a loved one or perhaps a nifty bit of self-gifting? 

Families to receive Christmas help

Struggling families in the city of Nottingham are to receive extra support over Christmas via school food vouchers and outdoor holiday activities.

The City Council has repeatedly made £15-per-week vouchers available to all pupils who receive free school meals (FSM) over holiday periods. 

These are issued to parents before their children breaking up from school.

Alongside the supermarket vouchers are a range of outdoor holiday activities throughout Nottingham. At these, FSM pupils will receive a free lunch, plus a programme of activities focused on healthy eating, fitness and mental health.

The two projects are funded through a combined award of £3.55 million from the Household Support Grant Scheme and the Holiday Activity Fund (HAF).

The £1.8m HAF grant was, through a bidding process, made available to community groups, charities and schools with the ability to deliver outdoor holiday activities in neighbourhoods across the city.

Nearly 20,000 children attended these clubs and were fed over the Easter, summer and October half-term holidays, and this money will be used to deliver more activities during the Christmas holidays, via a continued link-up between the Council and Nottingham Forest Community Trust as its lead project partner this year.

The HAF funding is allocated from the Department for Education with certain criteria attached. This stipulates the support for tackling holiday hunger should be through free school meals pupils attending holiday clubs.

Parents can book places by visiting www.asklion.co.uk/funandfood to see the list of clubs and the contact details of the groups.

There are also a limited number of places available for children who aren’t eligible for FSM and these will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.

Councillor Cheryl Barnard, Portfolio Holder for Children, Young People and Schools, said: “We are aware of how hard things have been for people in our city and so it is great news that pupils in need of help will be able to benefit from supermarket vouchers and activity clubs again this Christmas.

“The Council has made this support available throughout the year during school holidays, but this is a special time for children and their families. We want to help them in every way we can.

“Nottingham has some 15,000 children eligible for free school meals, and many of these families are already be feeling the strain because of the national cost-of-living crisis. It is right and proper that we are given this funding to ensure healthy meals for young people in need.

“I’d also like to take this chance to wish everyone in Nottingham a very merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year.”

Calum Osborne, Deputy CEO of the Nottingham Forest Community Trust, said: “We are delighted to work closely with Nottingham City Council to offer high-quality, enriching activities and healthy meals for children across the city as we come to the end of a hugely successful year of running this programme.

“By collaborating with Nottingham City Council, local community-based organisations and business, we can achieve so much more when we work together to positively impact thousands of children.”

Nottingham City Council has previously endorsed Manchester United and England footballer Marcus Rashford’s campaign to tackle holiday hunger.

At a meeting of the Full Council in November 2020, councillors highlighted the levels of child poverty in Nottingham and gave a commitment to support free school meals to children throughout the holidays in 2021.This has since been extended through 2022.

Cheaper flu shots at Asda before Christmas

With the country in its flu season and customers looking to save money where they can, Asda has announced that it has halved the cost of its flu jab. 

People who book their flu jab at any Asda Pharmacy can now receive the vaccine for just £4.98, making it the cheapest on the market, at a crucial time in the winter season when cases are high.

Asda is encouraging those who haven’t yet had their flu jab to book an appointment at one of its 254 in-store pharmacies, either online or instore.

Customers can book a private flu jab at a cost of £4.98, less than half the price of its original price of £9.98 – up until 31st March 2023. This follows the huge success of its £1 and £2 Asda Reward cash pot incentives earlier this year.

The retailer hopes the new market leading price will encourage as many customers who haven’t yet had their flu jab to do so, ensuring the nation is as protected as possible this flu season.

Faisal Tuddy, Superintendent Pharmacist at Asda, said: “It’s so important to get your flu jab, especially if you are vulnerable or visiting family members this Christmas. At a time when we’re seeing cases of flu rise rapidly, we’re proud to be able to make this service as accessible as possible to anyone that wants it.”

Speaking of the increase in cases of flu and the importance of getting the vaccine, Doctor Kathryn Basford from Asda Online Doctor, said: "For most people, the flu is an unpleasant and inconvenient illness which can make you feel unwell and not be able to work or do your normal activities for up to a week, but for some, it can be much more severe, and even be life-threatening.

“If you don’t fall into a vulnerable group which is offered a free flu vaccine through the NHS, it’s still really important to get the vaccine to help protect those around you who you could pass on the infection to.”

To book, customers simply have to visit their in-store pharmacy team or head to the booking service available online at https://www.asda.com/about/instore/pharmacy - available up until 31st March 2023.

Appointments are available seven days a week, with a range of appointment times available throughout the day.

That's Christmas: Morrisons Café gives away free cakes in lead up to...

That's Christmas: Morrisons Café gives away free cakes in lead up to...: Morrisons is giving customers a free sweet treat when purchasing any drink from the café to help spread festive cheer.  Customers can enjoy ...