As part of our Celebrating My Best Me season, we’re celebrating the diversity and achievements of colleagues at Carnival UK.
Over the festive season, different cultures all over the world take the opportunity to celebrate, commemorate and give thanks through various traditions and celebrations.
We have a fantastically diverse workforce that recognise the season in various different ways. Here’s Joe Sutton, Applications Manager, Carnival UK Technology, shares his story on the celebration of Christmas, and what it means to him and his family:
Christmas, for us as a Christian family, is in many respects a familiar sight. We value spending time with relatives, giving and receiving gifts, and of course turkey! The differences will come out in the details of what we do, but more fundamentally, in the why.
Christmas is the time we celebrate the fact that God came down to visit mankind around 2,000 years ago. The Bible teaches us that the baby Jesus was truly God, and that He came to make forgiveness of sins available. He was the greatest gift, and so He’s the reason we celebrate and give gifts!
Naturally, every year our church will hold a carol service. As a musician, I’m usually heavily involved. However, the service is not run for tradition’s sake alone; we do it as a reminder and retelling of the Christmas story. In fact, many of the well-loved Christmas carols, like “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, tell the story very well on their own! We also love to take the carols outside. In previous years we’ve taken a choir into Sainsbury’s in Portswood, and other years I’ll simply grab my guitar and a few of us will sing some carols outside. We’ve always found it’s well received and people will sometimes join in!
We love to give, as a reflection of what we’ve received. Our church meets in a school hall, and we support their Christmas Fayre each year by providing hot drinks and mince pies. We normally support the Samaritan’s Shoebox Appeal each year, and often other charities too. Other events we’ve done include visiting local care homes to bring a brief carol service to those who can’t get out to attend one.
At work, my team and I may have different reasons for celebrating at Christmas time, but we love to celebrate together. We’ve already been able to enjoy a bowling night, and of course, we’ll be partaking of the Atrium Christmas lunch! It’s great that team spirit is so important to Carnival UK.
Christmas, like Easter, is a very important time for Christians. It’s important as a time to remember and remind others about the message of Christmas: that Jesus came as “Emmanuel” (meaning ‘God with us’).
Celebrate some of your other colleagues here!