These three winter wonders spread festive cheer for a living…
Deerly beloved
After scattering the hay, I guided the cows into the barn for the night.
I’d grown up on a smallholding and loved working with animals.
So when I spotted an advert for a reindeer handler, I was intrigued.
The farm needed help caring for the animals and chatting with the public at Christmas events.
I’d never even seen a reindeer in real life, but thought it looked like fun.
‘We’d love to hire you,’ said Nick, who owned the farm.
He explained that he and his wife, Steph, had bought their first three reindeer as pets.
They’d then realised the deer could pay for their own upkeep via Christmas events.
By the time I joined, they had a herd of 18!
On my first day, we headed out to a Christmas market.
Nick told me all about reindeer, so I could educate visitors.
Instead of regular feed, we gave them a special lichen imported from Scandinavia.
‘It’s what they’d eat in the wild,’ Nick explained.
I discovered that looking after reindeer wasn’t so different from sheep and cows.
But you did have to watch out for their antlers!
While they were affectionate, it was easy to get accidentally poked.
I loved working with them so much, I came back again the next Christmas, and the one after.
The rest of the year I worked as a teacher.
But come December, I’d pull on my wellies and elf outfit.
Over the years, we visited schools, work parties, corporate events and weddings.
Everyone adored the reindeer.
‘Wow, I thought they were make-believe!’ said one woman.
One year, we attended a very special school event.
‘We think Santa’s sleigh has crashed nearby!’ announced the headteacher.
The playground and school buildings were strewn with presents, along with clues as to Santa’s location.
‘It’s lucky we managed to round up these reindeer before they escaped,’ I told the kids.
It was completely magical seeing the delight and wonder in their eyes.
Now I’ve been working with Woodbine Farm for eight years.
If you’d told me a decade ago what I’d be doing now, I’d never have believed you.
But I certainly won’t be rein-ing it in any time soon!
Charlotte Baxter, 25, Lutton, Northamptonshire
Camp Christmas
While other kids were out discovering sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, I rehearsed classic musicals four nights a week with my local operatic society.
Then, at the age of 18, my eye was caught by an ad asking people to audition for a professional show called the Thursford Christmas Spectacular.
Deep in the heart of rural Norfolk, it was the largest seasonal musical in Europe with a cast of 44 singers, 25 dancing girls, a full orchestra, bagpipes, a Wurlitzer organist and eight doves.
The audience sat in a grotto decorated with illuminated trees and gigantic hanging baubles.
The stage was 110ft long and during the show, a Venetian Gondola Switchback (a fully working Victorian rollercoaster) was ridden by dancers dressed as Little Red Monkeys.
Every performance was sold out — two shows a day, seven days a week for six weeks.
The show had never featured singers as young as 18, but because of an admin error, my CV was put in the pile of performers being invited to audition, instead of being thrown into the bin.
Later, I was told that the panel didn’t realise their mistake until I was standing outside the audition room — but happily, they offered me the job!
Thursford became a huge part of my life for the next nine years.
Cast members described it as ‘like The Muppet Show, but with people’.
Critics labelled it ‘kitsch, sentimental and deeply, deeply strange. So camp that it would have Graham Norton weeping in envy’.
One year, Norfolk was hit by a massive snowstorm and the village of Thursford lost all electricity.
Fortunately, the Christmas Spectacular had an emergency generator — but when it broke, the building plunged in and out of darkness.
On stage, Pongo The Skunk tried to maintain order as 1500 pensioners started screaming.
Another year, a carer in the audience drank a pint of wine, ran up on stage and got waltzed into the wings by a life-size field mouse!
Over the years, I played everything from a Christmas turkey and Inspector Clouseau (chasing 20 Pink Panthers), to a pirate reciting a naughty limerick.
We had rollerskating milkmaids, inflatable fat ballerinas and even a levitating sacrificial virgin.
It’s now been a decade since my last show at Thursford, but I treasure every memory of the seasonal madness which, between the ages of 18 and 27, entirely shaped my life.
Martin Milnes, 37, Lewisham, London
National Elf Service
At the end of the rehearsal, I began packing away my things.
I’d been a member of a local theatre group for years.
We loved putting on pantos, plays and musicals.
It was a great way to unwind from my high-pressure job as a nursing associate.
‘Would anyone be interested in being a Christmas elf?’ asked one of the other theatre members.
It turned out the council were funding a Christmas town at a nearby farm.
And auditions were open for the part.
I signed up immediately and, to my delight, soon received an acceptance email.
‘Mum’s going to be a Christmas elf!’ I told my 21-year-old daughter, Freya.
She has Down’s syndrome and adores Christmas with a passion.
When my first day as an elf came, I was a little nervous.
What if I can’t improvise? I worried.
But I pulled on my costume, and applied blusher for a rosy-cheeked look.
And to my surprise, I slid easily into my new role.
It turned out I was more imaginative than I’d thought.
The elves all had different duties around the farm.
Sometimes we’d walk around in pairs, entertaining the kids.
Other times I’d hold signs pointing to the hot chocolate stall.
And every so often I ran the Elf Workshop.
‘Our toy-making machine has broken down!’ I’d announce. ‘We’re going to need help finishing all these toys!’
The kids rushed over to help stuff cuddly animals.
Parents got involved too and looked like they were having just as much fun as the kids!
It was magical to see everyone enjoying themselves.
Sometimes you really had to think on your feet when talking to the children.
‘So, what do you want for Christmas?’ I asked one little boy.
‘A PS5!’ he said at once.
His mum mouthed ‘no’ in the background.
‘Er, well, we can’t always get the things we want,’ I improvised.
Being a Christmas elf was more responsibility that I’d thought!
I had such a great time that hopefully I’ll be an elf again this year too.
I might be a nurse, but I’m also a member of the National Elf Service!
Lisa Tomlinson, 47, Stockton-on-Tees, Durham