No longer working and recently moved almost 250 miles away so no option to participate in SS this year. Used to do it every year working for the NHS until 3 separate years incidents told me what people really thought of me.
Year 1 - £20 spend (not max £20, ward boss decided everyone would spend the same to avoid disparity between someone spending to the limit on someone and receiving a pack of Poundland sweets from their SS). Got my recipient a gift that reflected their hobby; I got a set of mini plastic holiday toiletries bottles in a clear plastic holder and a plastic over door hanging shoe organiser - that’s all. Little thought put in to the gift and most likely from the cheap tat shop across the road from the hospital. Oh, and when I finished my 12 hour shift, the bottles had gone from the office but no one ever admitted taking them.
Year 2 - in the week running up to Christmas there was definitely a gift with my name on it in the cupboard in the office. However, come Christmas Eve night shift (we always received our SS gifts on our shift nearest to Christmas Day), there was no gift for me. I was the only person with my name working in the department so no chance it had been given out by mistake!!
Year 3 - boss took names of who was joining in, made a list which she ticked when they picked a name out and then ticked again when they took a gift in to the office. Gifts were locked in a cupboard to reduce the risk of gifts disappearing before Christmas. Boss didn’t ask or want to know who they were for so still some degree of secrecy involved. Despite previous year I still got involved thinking it couldn’t be another bad year. Turned up on Christmas Eve night shift (always offered to work the night shift as was single and didn’t have children) to no present for me and a message from boss to say one giver hadn’t been ticked off the list as taking gift in but was off till NYE so to wait and see if it appeared by then (person had been at work up till 23rd so not off long term or anything!!) Nothing ever turned up and, when asked in January by boss if they’d forgotten to bring gift in, said no they just couldn’t be bothered and hadn’t really liked the gift they received so thought it would be ok not to bother - to be clear, I didn’t buy the person’s gift so wasn’t the cause of them not liking their gift!!
I vowed then to never take part in another work place SS and haven’t - Bah Humbug!!