Ho ho ho, Feliz Navidad and, if Diary may, Jing-a-di-jing. It’s Civil Society’s last news bulletin of 2024 (barring any earth-shattering events) and festive spirits are in the sky.
After an exhausting dozen months, it’s time for some of us at CS Towers to step aside from the coalface of charity news and down tools for a fortnight. Only to pick them up once again, dear reader, with the vigour of a small team of trade sector journalists.
To set us off on our festive escape, Diary recently asked Alzheimer’s Society boss Kate Lee the Christmas-themed questions others wouldn’t dare.
Read on for tales of unlikely lust for TV comedians, late-night crochet, and an annual trip to Coventry Market.
Kate Lee, are you looking forward to the yuletide period?
“Absolutely, I love spending it with my family. I love seeing everyone opening their presents from me as gift buying is my superpower. I try to get each gift just right, which often means keeping notes all year round and trying to subtly have cryptic conversations to test ideas. This all culminates in the moment they are opened, wondering ‘did I hit the spot’? It can be very bittersweet!”
Do you wish it could be Christmas every day?
“Absolutely not.”
At a previous charity, you won a £15m Morrisons partnership – which supermarket does the best festive food?
“Our house is crazy over Christmas and we have people staying and visiting, from the 21st right through to the New Year. This is all carefully managed with meal plans and I shop all over the place to get the right stuff for each meal. My absolute essential visit is to Coventry Market for fresh fish, fruit and vegetables on Christmas Eve. The trip is a big, fun, family tradition!”
When studying for your Masters at Harvard, did you have a Thanksgiving dinner and what was it like?
“I have never had Thanksgiving in the States but one of my closest friends lives in New England so I have had a few Christmases there. Where she is, Gloucester, is very picture perfect – it is like living in a Pinterest board. Christmas there is beautifully curated, Cath Kidston on steroids – it is a little bit much for me. I want to go round ruffling things up a bit, adding some really tacky tinsel and playing bad music.”
When is the correct time to open presents at Christmas?
“Christmas morning when my kids (now adults!) should be up, but usually aren’t so I start slamming round the house in a passive aggressive manner. This year my niece is coming to stay from Sweden with her very little children, so we might need to do presents on Christmas Eve – though this could totally discombobulate my Christmas.”
What’s the best Christmas song?
“Eartha Kitt – Santa Baby.”
By Michael Bublé, surely. If you could invite one celebrity to join your family for Christmas day, who would it be?
“My celebrity crush: Greg Davies! My boyfriend won’t like it, but hey it’s my Christmas as well! Or Debra Allcock Tyler – voluntary sector national treasure – because she can literally keep everyone entertained for the entire meal and I could just relax and laugh.”
What do you think Santa gets up to on the other 364 nights of the year?
“He is an Alzheimer’s Society dementia adviser, doing an evening shift on the support line. He helps deliver incredible services to over 100,000 people a year, often when they are at their most vulnerable and desperate. He is a very, very special guy.”
How will you be spending New Year’s Eve this year?
“I currently have a broken leg so I doubt it will be my usual tequila-fuelled table dancing. (This isn’t true but I’ve been known to crochet my way into the New Year.)”
Congratulations on receiving an OBE this year – how are you going to top that in 2025?
“Following our Christmas campaign, I’ll be delivering Alzheimer’s Society’s new strategy and making some sizable in-roads into stopping dementia devastating lives by 2050.
“I just want 2025 to be a little calmer, with all my family, friends and colleagues staying well and healthy. It feels like lots of folks around me have had a tough 2024, much of it sadly created by dementia. I’d personally just like a fully working leg again!”
