A Very Merry Christmas!

Last week we were all feeling very festive as we set off to our Christmas dinner at Jamie's Italian in Cambridge. It was a lovely setting to mark our festive 'do' and we all thoroughly enjoyed our meals, a few of us even went as far as to have a desert... Well it is Christmas after all!

Hannah could hardly contain her excitement as Friday also meant the unwrapping of Secret Santa presents, handing out the presents she was absolutely beaming with joy. Everyone did very well with choices for each other and we all went home happy with our gifts.

Not only did we enjoy a beautiful dinner and fantastic company but part of our surrounding were supplied by two of our lovely clients. With Thomas Crapper & Co. loos complete with a 'beer-engine' handle and a gorgeous selection of bespoke glazed tiles for H & E Smith we felt right at home!

As promised, Daisy made us her amazing iced spiced tree biscuits, although they haven't spent very long on the tree! We hope you enjoy whatever you have planned over the festive period be it spending time with family, jetting off on holiday or just enjoying a drink with friends.

So from all of us here at Atom we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Secret Santa

As the office gets ever-more sparkly and yuletide spirits increase, it was time to dust off the Christmas tree, get the tinsel out and start thinking ahead to our Secret Santa! 

A traditional part of Christmas festivities, Secret Santa is a fun, low cost way to kick off the merry season and show how well you know your colleagues and friends. As a massive fan of Christmas, Hannah was particularly excited about swopping gifts and set about putting our names into a hat (or more office-appropriate, an A4 file holder!) Everyone took turns picking out a little folded note from the box and while some suspected all might sneakily read ‘Hannah’ we got our thinking caps on for some fab gifts for each other.

 We’ve seen some great gift guides this season in some of our favourite home interiors magazines and also great tips on home-made tasty treats and beautiful DIY decorations, so there should be no abundance of ideas at the Atom office. (Daisy even promised to make some Atom themed tree-biscuits!)

Apparently it’s un-known when or where Secret Santa originated in its present form, but it’s thought the original Secret Santa was an American philanthropist, Larry Dean Stewart (1948 – 2007) who coined the name and spent 20 years doing random acts of kindness for people throughout the year. A moral that we are more than happy to get involved in, where we are all thoroughly looking forward to exchanging gifts and festive cheer at our Christmas meal.

Walking in the Air...

Atom was delighted to be one of the sponsors of ‘The Mayor’s Christmas Spectacular’ held on the 4^th of December in The Maltings theatre, located by Ely’s beautiful riverside. Along with various festive family games and activities including of course Santa’s grotto, the centrepiece of the show was a recital of Howard Blake’s uplifting score of The Snowman by Raymond Briggs performed by The Ely Sinfonia. The magical adventure unfolded to the music courtesy of narrator Jeremy Harmer and soprano Jenny Bingham who sang the signature solo ‘Walking in the Air’ beautifully. 

Held in association with ADeC - Arts Development in East Cambridgeshire, the monies raised from sponsorship and ticket sales went to The Mayor’s Charity which benefits numerous local children’s organisations. This was the first of what is hoped to become a regular annual event and judging by the rapturous applause and the smiling faces of little and not so little ones, we are sure it will continue to go from success to success.