Many people look forward to the Christmas party all year round. It’s the time of the year when everyone is in high spirits, feeling the Christmas joy and looking to let their hair down.

Christmas parties are exciting but can be difficult to plan, especially when you want to ensure everyone enjoys them. That’s why we’ve pulled together a list of ideas, to help you plan the best Christmas party. 

1. Wine-tasting or cocktail making

Wine tasting and/or cocktail making is a great work Christmas party activity that’ll keep everyone entertained. Although, it’s important to provide alcohol-free options for those not drinking. 

Many places offer wine-tasting and/or cocktail-making sessions led by sommeliers and mixologists. This activity is a great blend of interaction and sophistication that gets everyone involved, helping to create memories that last forever. 

2. Christmas party games night 

Hosting a games night is a great way to get everyone involved and encourage some friendly competition. Whether you’re hosting it at the office or going out to an arcade there are many games you can implement at your next Christmas party. 

For those looking to host an office activities night, you could:

Another great option is to host your party at an arcade or games bar. This enables you to play a range of games you can’t play in the office, such as bowling and axe throwing. Game bars are a great way to encourage team bonding and relaxation. The variety of multiplayer games improves collaboration and enhances team relationships. 

Giving all members of staff the opportunity to interact in a relaxed environment with no hierarchical barriers allows new friendships to blossom and lasting memories to be created. 

Birmingham has an excellent variety of games places you can host your next Christmas party at, including:

3. Karaoke night 

Karaoke is a fun Christmas party idea. Get everyone to choose their favourite songs and sing their heart out. Karaoke brings everyone together to bond over music and share laughter. It’s an excellent way to get everyone involved whether it’s through cheering colleagues on or singing, without alcohol needing to be involved. With 38% of 16-24-year-olds and 21% of 25-34-year-olds not drinking, it’s important to host a party that includes non-alcoholic options. 

You can either rent a karaoke machine and host it in your office or hire out a karaoke venue. 

4. Paint and sip night 

Paint and sip parties are becoming increasingly popular with them trending on TikTok and Instagram reels. You can host a canvas painting party or decorate baubles or wine glasses all of which can be tailored to a Christmas theme. 

This is a great option for both in person and online parties as equipment can be sent to your staff’s homes ahead of time. This is excellent for companies with employees all around the world as you can still get together regardless of where you are! It’s also a great opportunity to share what the team gets up to on social media

5. Escape Room

Escape rooms are a great way to get everyone to work together and show off their skills. This is ideal for smaller companies, but if you have enough people to set up multiple teams, a competition could be created to see who escapes the quickest. This will create a bit of friendly competition and you could even set up a prize for the winning team.

6. Book a planned Christmas party 

Running and managing a business can be busy, and planning the Christmas party can add on significant amounts of stress. At Millennium Point, we understand this, which is why we’ve planned two Christmas party packages that will remove the stresses of hosting and planning a party.

Our Exclusive Party Night is just £49.95 per person, plus VAT. You’ll experience an unforgettable Christmas party, complete with a 3-course dining experience, a fantastic DJ and dance floor and a private bar. 

You’ll need a minimum of 100 attendees and a maximum of 200 guests to be eligible for this package.

If you’re still craving that festive night out minus the stress of planning it, our Ultimate 80s Christmas Party could be the one for you and it’s only £44.95 per person! It’s perfect for smaller business and friendship groups. You’ll dance the night away to a live 80s band while enjoying a delicious three course meal that’s bound to get you in the Christmas spirit.

So if you’re looking to book a Christmas party that everyone will remember, explore our Christmas party packages today.

Grant funding is a great opportunity for businesses and organisations to start a project that they would struggle to fund with their own money. 

Grants can be given for different types of projects including education and environment led work. At Millennium Point we offer grant funding for STEM-related projects to help encourage children to pursue a career within the industry.

So what is grant funding and how could it help you?

What is grant funding?

Grant funding helps encourage companies to take risks and drive growth, through giving them the opportunity to invest in projects that may have been too risky or expensive for them to invest in themselves. 

For example, £15.5 million of the Levelling Up Fund is going to be used to restore Moseley Road Baths heritage funding. The fund will also help make it more accessible and prevent further decline. 

The baths originally opened in 1907 and have been a part of the Balsall Heath community for 115 years. This highlights the huge positive impacts grant funding can have on both organisations and buildings, as well as communities. 

To learn more about the Levelling Up Funding going into the Moseley Road Baths, visit the government website.

How does grant funding work?

Grant funding works differently depending on the funding body’s application progress. For example their could be various stages such as:

How to find the right grant funding opportunity

Applying to grants can be extremely time consuming, even when the grant may not be offering a large sum of money.

Due to this and the fact that grant funding opportunities can have low success rates, you want to make sure that you read grant guidelines carefully and understand what they’re offering so that you don’t waste your time.

What should you look out for?

When applying for grant funding opportunities, you should look out for:

Examples of criteria you may need to meet

Grants may require you to meet a number of criteria, such as:

Further research

When looking at grant funding opportunities, it’s important to further research the grant and the funding body offering it, so that you fully understand what you’re applying for and whether it meets your needs.

You can do this by:

Grant funding opportunities at Millennium Point

Every year the Millennium Point Charitable Trust provides funding to not-for-profit organisations, schools and colleges across the West Midlands combined area.

 Applicants can apply for up to £20,000 to fund their STEM-related projects, depending on whether they meet eligibility criteria.

Over the last 5 years, The Millennium Point Charitable Trust has awarded over £2,100,706 to help fund STEM-related projects. 

Visit our website today to learn more about our grant opportunities.

How has Millennium Point supported groups through their grant funding opportunities?

Millennium Point has supported a multitude of businesses in funding their STEM-related projects, helping to improve STEM teaching for children of all ages, across the West Midlands combined area. 

Below are 3 examples of not-for-profit organisations and schools Millennium Point have supported through their grant.

Birmingham Botanical Gardens 

The Millennium Point Charitable Trust’s grant opportunities allowed the Botanical Gardens to introduce their sensational science sessions that give children the opportunity to undertake science experiments they may not be able to do at school. 

This has helped to get children further involved in science and the Botanical gardens as well, helping to improve the standard of teaching within the STEM curriculum.

To learn more about how Millennium Point supported the Botanical Gardens, visit our Youtube channel today.

Ark Trindal Primary

The grant from Millennium Point’s Charitable Trust allowed Ark Trindal to bring the science curriculum to life with an outdoor teaching space, which included a science garden with a renewable energy area. This has helped the school make teaching science more fun and hands-on, enabling children to learn through sight and touch. 

Ark Trindal Primary found the grant really quick and simple to apply for and has helped the school out massively in terms of teaching and engaging students in the science curriculum.

To learn more about Ark Trindal’s project and how Millennium Point supported them, watch our short video today.

King Solomon School: Breaking barriers

The grant Millennium Point provided for King Solomon School enabled them to create their project, ‘breaking the barriers of STEM’. 

The project included building a sensory garden and utilising an old car park that was a part of their playground and turning it into a safe, quiet and peaceful area where children can engage with outdoor learning.

The grant has allowed the school to develop areas for children to engage in science lessons in a physical way, while bringing the community of parents and grandparents together through them donating plants to the schools sensory garden.

To learn more about King Solomon School’s breaking the barriers of STEM project, visit our YouTube channel today.

You can learn more about other organisations Millennium Point’s grant funding has supported on our website.

Get in touch with Millennium Point today!

Here at Millennium Point we want to support as many people and children as possible and encourage them to pursue further education and careers within the STEM industries, highlighting why we started our grant funding opportunities.

To discover more about whether Millennium Point’s Charitable Trust grant can help you, get in touch today!