Behind the design: Sam’s Christmas decoration

Our charity Christmas decoration idea was pitched by Sam, the son of one of our team members. A young, budding entrepreneur who lives with ADHD, Sam suggested we install gumball machines in all our stores for when children are shopping with their parents. This led to the design of our gumball decoration, designed collaboratively with Sam and raising money for SOS!SEN, a charity that helps secure the right educational support for young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

the idea

Sam had the idea on holiday and contacted our founder, Olly, with his gumball pitch, suggesting it would help keep children entertained when they are shopping with their parents. Our Home & Gift team put their creative heads together to come up with a design-led solution people could enjoy in their own homes. ‘We took the gumball idea and decided it would translate well into a colourful Christmas tree decoration,’ says Home & Gift Buyer, Alice Fenner.

‘I encouraged Sam to write to Olly because I knew that it would be read with interest and responded to with kindness. It's amazing to have that trust in your workplace.’

– AMY DICKSON, SAM’S MUM

the design process

‘We gave some initial design ideas to our supplier, who created three different samples,’ explains Alice. ‘We sent the designs to Sam because we wanted him to select his favourite.’ Sam’s signature is also on the product label – a personal touch that reflects the collaboration of the design journey.

Sam has been involved in the entire design process, from adapting his initial idea to visiting SOS!SEN and chatting with different team members. ‘Sam has proved that not all brilliant ideas start in a classroom - success can be measured in different ways,’ says Amy. The final product is a fun and colourful creation handmade with a bright rainbow of beads and sequins that would make a playful decoration all year round, not just at Christmas.

‘As a parent of a neurodiverse child, the experience of being listened to, included and told that his idea was great has been incredible.’

– AMY DICKSON, SAM’S MUM

the charity

SOS!SEN is an independent charity that helps parents secure the right educational support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). With a team of 70 trained volunteers, they aim to help parents and carers to understand more about their children’s entitlements and navigate the processes to secure the right educational provision.

Sam visited SOS!SEN’s Surrey-based charity shop alongside some of our team members, including OB’s Senior Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Manager, Chris Shearer-Wright. ‘We had a wonderful day meeting the CEO and team. Being involved in projects like this one makes my work so fulfilling,’ says Chris. ‘Our Founder, Olly was fully supportive of this project, which perfectly captures the supportive and inclusive environment at OB.’

‘As an OB employee, the best part of this story for me is that I work for a company that has a culture that celebrates equity, diversity and inclusion as much as we do,’ explains Amy. From every sale of our Gumball Christmas Tree Decoration, £1 will be donated to the charity SOS!SEN.

Behind the design: Sam’s Christmas decoration

the idea

the design process

the charity

Christmas tree decorations