Support staff at my school were treated to a Unison "Stars in our Schools" lunch today. Lovely gesture. School paid for a nice buffet lunch and Unison reps brought an enormous cake and we all had an hour out of the classroom/away from the office. At the end, everyone was given a Unison "goodie bag" I foolishly thought it might contain useful things like pens and pencils but it was full of plastic tat that will sit around until it gets thrown away and ends up in landfill - little stress balls (wrapped in plastic), lanyard ( we all wear compulsory school lanyards), weird collapsible water carrier that leaks, clip on extendible key carrier (wrapped in plastic) and a pen ( useful) There were around 70 staff and I was struck by the waste of money and polluting effect of all this and felt a bit patronised. I am a grown woman. I do not need a wasteful, polluting party bag! Buffet, cake and an hour to relax was much appreciated without the tat.