£10 secret santa for random colleague (we don't draw names) - could be male or female, needs to be vegan, nut free, soya free and not alcoholic

[HelenHywater]

So in my new office the secret santa is completely random - you just pull a present out of the sack. So I need to buy something that would suit everyone in the team - men, women, old young, muslim (so no alcohol), vegan, nut free, soya free. So not hard then! £10 limit. What do you think?

We have a Muslim woman on the team. I'm not sure she celebrates Christmas.

Rechargeable handwarmers for £11

handwarmers

Gift card for somewhere like Costa or Starbucks. Can easily be passed on if they are not a coffee drinker.

What are you hoping you get? Buy that. Then you might pull your own gift out. And if you don’t then at least if it’s something you’d like someone else might too.

I’d personally want a gift card for a coffee place or M&S that would at least help with the Christmas food bill, or I could regift it for someone that turns up and I’d forgotten to get a gift for.

What a stupid secret santa. I'd probably go for a nice mug (maybe with a gag relevant to your workplace) and vegan hot choc.

gift card for coffee shop or m and s, or a Netflix or now tv movie voucher with a bag of popcorn so they can enjoy some films over the Christmas break (and if not easy to regift).

I would actually be delighted with an M&S giftcard

A brolley

Socks

Soap - bound to be a soap dodger in the crowd.

I actually think socks are a great present and I'm always happy to get them. Ideal for something like this.

I once somehow managed to get the new colleague who didn't even start until after the new year (why he was even an option in 'secret santa' when he didn't start working their until the month after christmas still baffles me).

No one had ever even met or spoken to him and he wouldn't even be at the Xmas party (where we did Secret Santa) so wouldn't get the gift until 3 weeks later. All we knew was his name (on secret Santa card) and the job role he was hired for and just that he was 'the new guy'.

I got him a nice pen with his name engraved on it... inoffensive, useful to basically anyone, takes up next to no space and still a touch of 'effort' in getting it customised.

If you don't know the name you could just not customise though, a nice pen works for almost anyone... even my toddler who can't write yet loves a pen for doodling.

What’s the betting most of those gifts will be utter tat that no one wants and gets rid of?

Far better to put the money towards a charity donation from all of you or doos for the office.

10 scratch cards

i would like £10 amazon voucher, i would spend my on books or if you don’t like reading it would be 10 quid towards anything random that they need throughout the year

Scratchcards

Well if she taking part in 'secret Santa' thats literally part of Christmas.

I would go with a voucher for somewhere.

Not sure how socks would work as you may get massively varying sizes with men and women in the team.

It’s one thing to join in a secret Santa for the sake of team harmony and a bit of fun where they get a generic gift, it’s another if they get gifted a Christmas decoration. Only an arsehole would do that.

Doesn't mean she has Christmas decorations up at home though.

I'm particular about my socks and I'd be surprised if any socks bought for me would meet my requirements! (but as I said upthread, I'd be very happy with chocolates, alcohol, biscuits, cheese or nuts).

I think vouchers are the way to go.

What an idiotic idea. Surely it would work better if the organiser found some way of ensuring that everyone with special requirements will get something that meets their needs and having some sort of coding system for the wrapping paper so that they only draw something that would be OK for them. Then everybody else has a chance of getting chocolate, alcohol etc.

And/or: a swap system. I suppose that would be difficult to enforce.

Frankly, Secret Santa is a massive pain. If I ran the world, it would be banned in workplaces.

A houseplant?
It seems a bit weird to not know the name. Though I guess in a big firm you may not even know the person or any of their mates so the name means not much.

One of those Lego mini kits

A plant

a good neutral hand cream

A jigsaw

Something for the kitchen - a spoon rest, decorative serving bowl, salad servers, etc

Consumables - local/fancy condiments, good oil, preserves, nice vinegars for salad dressings

😂😂😂😂