Abbey College Cambridge Main Entrance

First Ever Christmas Boarding is a Success

11th January 21

For the very first time, Christmas 2020 saw the boarding houses at Abbey College Cambridge remain open.  Many of our students chose to remain in boarding due to the global covid-19 pandemic, and we wanted to ensure that they had a safe, homely environment in which to spend Christmas.  So the decision was taken to keep the houses open and provide a program of activities and events for everyone’s enjoyment while having to be away from their home countries and families.  Our Abbey College Cambridge Boarding Staff wanted to ensure that everyone would have fun and the opportunity to experience a traditional English Christmas.  It was the first time that many of the 150 students who stayed had experienced Christmas in the UK.  We were also delighted to welcome boarders from our sister college, Abbey College Manchester to join the festivities.

A varied programme of activities were available for everyone to participate in, this included Christmas cake decorating, wreath making, Christmas movie screening, games nights and various sport classes.

The College Hall was transformed into a spectacular backdrop for the main Christmas events, which included a Christmas concert, traditional Christmas Day lunch and New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Everything was planned to ensure that the students would have an enjoyable and safe Christmas and New Year with all the usual college precautions were still in place.

We were delighted to receive lots of positive feedback from the students themselves.  Everyone had a great time.  Saksay commented that “The people around her, friends and houseparents, made the holiday enjoyable and great that loads of clubs had been arranged.” Saksay particularly enjoyed Christmas Movie Club  “I explored various types of movie genre which I would not have appreciated watching alone but just a group of people make it fun to watch.”

Details of all the activities can be found in the Christmas Boarding Guide below: