Tales from the grotto and beyond: Life as a Christmas seasonal worker

It’s the season to be jolly, and also one to consider some interesting short-term job opportunities.

Christmas has seasonal work like no other. As well as spending a few weeks relieving the rush in busy stores and sorting offices, it’s a time of year when people can find themselves spending their working day dressed as an elf, sporting a long, white beard, or doing some festive promotional work. It all helps to bring some sparkle into our lives in the run-up to 25 December.

BBC Bitesize caught up with people who have been at the forefront of festive jobs, to find out a few behind the scenes stories as well.

Yes, the beard is real

Sophie has been an honorary elf for more than 20 years now, working at her first grotto in 1998.

This year and its restrictions aside, Elf duty usually begins around mid-November and goes right through to Christmas Eve. A grotto shift can run from 9am to 9pm, with the elves (who else?) setting it up in the morning and closing it down at night. As it gets closer to the big day, Sophie and her colleagues have found themselves entertaining children who have been waiting in the queue for up to three hours to meet Father Christmas, with fake snowball fights proving a popular distraction. Perhaps not surprisingly, she has a few tales from the grotto to share.

Sophie told Bitesize: “We often had beard pullers, but we had one specific boy who was determined Santa's beard wasn't real, which of course it was. He kept giving it such hard tugs I had to bribe him with his gift to stop! Father Christmas had a sore chin afterwards.

“Santa is so busy over Christmas, that one day he just couldn't keep his eyes open. I kept having to elbow him when he was falling asleep one day as the children were reciting their present lists! But Christmas doesn’t feel like Christmas when I’m not helping out in a grotto.”

If in doubt, start singing

Jen is an actress and singer who often spends the week before Christmas doing pantomime, touring shows, or doing promotional work in shops.

One Christmas, she was handing out free coffee in different shops around the South West of England, from 7am to 7pm, so that people could try out a new type of coffee machine.

She remembered: "I had a questionnaire people had to fill out before they could have their coffees, and to be fair, most of the time it was a delight.

"But, I remember this specific store. It got to about 8.30am [and] it was absolutely rammed. As soon as anyone got wind of the free coffee, I was mobbed. Nobody wanted to fill in a form and people were just helping themselves.

"I don't know what came over me, but I just switched off the coffee machine, stood on a box and started singing 'Rocking Around the Christmas Tree' and clapping my hands. Once I had everyone's attention and they all started joining in, I started handing questionnaires out to the queue. It was great!"

'Why is Mrs Claus using the train?'

Here’s a story to get you right in the festive warm and fuzzies.

Pam is an actress based in West Lancashire. When Santa and his wife, Mrs Claus, are too busy getting everybody’s presents ready for the big day, she kindly steps in to play Mrs Claus at a local grotto (using official instructions from the real Mrs Claus, of course, on how to dress and get into character).

In December 2018, Pam appeared in a grotto in Liverpool city centre, travelling in each day by train, wearing the full Mrs Claus make-up and glasses. She wore her own shoes, which were neon pink and covered in glittered sequins.

It was her commute which led to a heart-warming final day in the role. Pam remembered: “It was Christmas Eve and I was stood on a packed platform waiting to go home , when I heard a platform steward call out: "Mrs Claus, Mrs Claus!"

“I turned to see the steward with a young woman and a very distressed little girl and I immediately went into character and walked over. Apparently, the little girl and her mum had been unable to see Santa at a grotto. I gave her a gift wrapped present that had been left over from the grotto and given to me, then the little girl spotted the pink shoes, stopped crying and smiled at me.

“She looked puzzled and asked why was I using the train on Christmas Eve? I explained that I was going to collect the reindeers from Knowsley Safari Park as they had been visiting family. She laughed as she had been to the safari park last week and had seen the reindeers. We then recited their names together and a few of those stood on the platform joined in. It was the most magical journey home from work ever!”