Christmas Eve Jingle: worldwide initiative aims to spread festive cheer amid pandemic

A woman wears a face mask as she walks past a Christmas tree in New Bond Street, in London, Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020.
A woman wears a face mask as she walks past a Christmas tree in New Bond Street, in London, Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020. Copyright AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali
By Euronews
Share this articleComments
Share this articleClose Button

"We wanted to do something for the children to put a bit of magic into Christmas Eve and have a good memory of 2020," the event's creator told Euronews.

ADVERTISEMENT

Hundreds of thousands of people around the world are spreading cheer this Christmas Eve by ringing bells in an effort to combat loneliness due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The initiative, named the "Christmas Eve Jingle", was launched in October by Mary Beggs-Reid, as a way for her local community in Harrogate, northern England, to celebrate the holiday together despite measures in place to combat the spread of the deadly pandemic.

Beggs-Reid called on her neighbourhood to step out at 6pm local time to ring bells for two minutes together. She also invited people to give their neighbours who are likely to be alone a set of bells so they can also take part.

"The idea came from the film Elf where they sing at the end to raise Christmas spirit and help Santa fly his sleigh. We wanted to do something for the children to put a bit of magic into Christmas Eve and have a good memory of 2020," Beggs-Reid told Euronews.

Her idea has travelled far and wide with nearly 500,000 people from around the world now signed up to participate on the event's Facebook page.

"I only really expected my street (to get involved). I never, ever imagined that we'd obviously get the whole world but it's absolutely wonderful and overwhelming and I just can't wait," she said.

People in Australia and New Zealand have already posted videos and pictures of their family taking part.

Closer to home, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to step out this evening to ring bells after calling Beggs-Reid to praise her for the initiative.

"The Prime Minister and [his partner] Carrie spoke to me this week and they have said they love the idea and they will be outside Downing Street ringing bells with baby Wilfred," Beggs-Reid told Euronews.

"We just had a nice chat about family and obviously trying to do the best in the current situation and just that he had seen the film Elf so he did know what I meant with regards to Christmas spirit."

What a day!! Just a call from Boris!! All my ipad recorded 😞 and yes i really did call him Mr Prime Minister 🙈 Dex got a...

Posted by Mary Beggs-Reid on Tuesday, December 22, 2020

The UK is one of the most impacted countries in the world with nearly 70,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19 and more than 2.1 million infections confirmed.

Restrictions were initially scheduled to be relaxed over Christmas in the UK to allow families to gather but were tightened once more on Saturday.

England has been operating under a multi-tiered system since early December to combat the spread of the pandemic at the local level.

A majority of the country has been under the toughest two tiers of restrictions since then but authorities introduced a new tier, Tier 4, that kicked in last weekend in areas where the virus was particularly prominent like the capital.

People in London, the southeast and east of England will therefore be expected to stay at home and to restrict indoor socialising to their household only and outdoor gatherings to just one person from another household.

Share this articleComments

You might also like

Loneliness at Christmas doesn't just affect the elderly but young people too

The most likely places to get a white Christmas in 2020

This Scottish island celebrates Christmas 12 days late