HELTA Christmas Party 2025: A Perfectly Festive Way to End the Year

HELTA wrapped up the year in the best possible way: with our Christmas party — and what a lovely evening it was.

A total of 18 people joined us at the BSVH (Louis Braille Center), and from the moment we arrived it was clear this was going to be a good one. The potluck buffet alone was reason enough to celebrate: people were genuinely gushing about what everyone had brought along. Sweet, savoury, homemade, shop-bought — it was a truly bountiful feast, and people certainly swooped in with enthusiasm and were quickly full. It was one of those tables where you kept hearing, “You have to try this,” followed closely by, “I really can’t eat any more.” HELTA provided the drinks, and together it made for a relaxed, generous spread that set the tone for the evening.

A huge thank you to the whole committee, and especially to Rosie and Claudia, who coordinated the evening, bought all the essentials, and made sure everyone actually found their way to the venue. BSVH is still relatively new for some members, but it’s fast becoming a firm favourite: clean, spacious, fully accessible, equipped with a kitchen, and very easy to reach by bus and U-Bahn. We’re very happy to be calling it one of our regular HELTA homes.

It was also wonderful to see lots of familiar faces — and just as lovely to welcome some relatively new ones, too. The atmosphere was warm and chatty, exactly what you want at the end of a busy teaching year.

Pass the Parcel, HELTA-style

Once everyone had eaten and settled in, the games began — starting with Pass the Parcel, courtesy of our very own George. For anyone unfamiliar with it: Pass the Parcel is a party game where a gift is wrapped in many layers of paper and passed around while music plays. When the music stops, the person holding the parcel unwraps one layer. Eventually, someone reaches the prize in the centre.

In this case, many prizes.

George had painstakingly wrapped the parcel what felt like a gadzillion times, and almost every single layer came with its own dad joke attached. The groans around the room were loud, heartfelt, and absolutely worth the effort she put in. Laughter, mock despair, and dramatic reactions were plentiful — and, as a bonus, book prizes were handed out to some lucky unwrappers along the way.

Rosie’s Pub Quiz

Once the hilarity had died down just a little, we moved on to the next highlight of the evening: Rosie’s many-faceted pub quiz. This was no simple affair — it included general knowledge questions, Christmas-themed rounds, a picture round, and a dingbats section that very nearly drove some of us dingbatty.

The competition was tight. All three teams finished with scores remarkably close to one another — so close, in fact, that some members of the eventual winning team were initially convinced they had lost… and jokingly threw their own teammates under the bus, not realising that they had actually won. You know who you are, you mischievous under-the-bus throwers! 😊

A Wonderful End to a Wonderful HELTA Year

By the end of the evening, there was a strong consensus in the room: this had been a great Christmas party, and a fitting close to a wonderful HELTA year. Many thanks to everyone who came along, contributed food, helped out, joined in, laughed, groaned at the jokes, and generally made the evening what it was.

You’ve all set the bar very high for next year’s Christmas party — but we’re already looking forward to trying to clear it.

From all of us at HELTA: thank you, and see you in the new year 🎄✨