With the festive season well underway, one thing that is proving more popular than ever is the classic Christmas jumper. HANNAH WOOD finds out more.

ALONG with the presents, Christmas dinner, Santa and the tree, one thing that’s also proving to be most popular this season is the Christmas jumper.

From glittery reindeers to flashing Father Christmases, it seems everyone this year is putting on their jumpers to get into the festive mood.

In the last few years, the novelty of Christmas jumpers has taken off with retailers up and down the country creating their own versions of the festive fashion trend and what was previously seen as a quirky style for the daring amongst us, has now transformed into a mainstream Christmas must-have.

Shops, offices and even schools are just some of the organisations donning the seasonal jumper this year and with charities like Save the Children UK holding a National Christmas jumper day to raise money, the trend is growing year on year.

So why has the nation turned into festive fanatics and what has made these jumpers so popular?

For Miss Torfaen finalist Danielle Jones, 20, it's about making Christmas feel even more festive and special. Her and fellow finalist Jenny Fitzpatrick, 23, enjoy putting on their festive jumpers and have no qualms about dressing in their festive best. Miss Jones said: “I really think Christmas jumpers have just grown in popularity because every year people seem to get more and more into Christmas.

“Wearing the jumpers makes everything seem more festive and special and I think that’s why people enjoy it,” she said.

One of the main reasons for the surge in Christmas jumpers is Save the Children UK Christmas jumper day, held on Friday December 12, which saw schools and organisations across the UK put on their Christmas jumper to raise money for charity, which helps ill children and babies around the world.

Dozens of organisations across Gwent took part in the day including Fairwater High School, Cwmbran. Head teacher, Helen Coulson said: “I think the charity event was a good way of getting people wearing their Christmas jumpers and everyone, including the senior leadership team, participated in the day. We also managed to raise between £300 and £400.

“In the last two years I think Christmas jumpers have really grown in popularity and I was surprised to see even some of the older, cooler boys wearing ones with flashing lights and baubles! I now see them being sold in lots of shops like New Look and Primark and because they are so reasonably priced I think more people are persuaded into buying them.

“Wearing Christmas jumpers was a lovely, fun thing to do and I think all the pupils enjoyed themselves. It really created a Christmassy atmosphere around the school and the children asked if they could also wear them on the last day of term,” she said.

Another organisation popping on their pullovers for the festive season is Fike Safety Technology, Cwmbran. The organisation raised £74 for Save the Children during their jumper day.

Employee Lydia Hartland said: “We wore our Christmas jumpers to raise money for charity, but everyone really got into it. It was a fun way to do something for a good cause. People do tend to follow trends and the Christmas jumper trend has really caught on recently.”

Joe Guard, 27 and his niece Katie Porter, 24 from Newbridge are both big fans of the Christmas jumper. Mr Guard said: “Christmas is a really big deal in our family and we always get really into it. I think people love to look stupid and wearing Christmas jumpers is always fun.”

One woman who is really getting into the Christmas spirit is Sarah Williams- Martin, 36 from Newbridge. The Argus reported this week how Mrs Williams-Martin has been wearing a different Christmas jumper for every day in December, and will be doing so right up to the big day itself to raise awareness of dementia. Mrs Williams-Martin’s mum, 78 is a sufferer and is a resident of the T Y Iscoed Residential Home. So far her campaign has raised £350 and will be donated to the home.

Mrs Williams Martins said that the bright colours and 3D features help both her and her mum. She said: “The idea really was that the jumper could entertain them and distract from my head. It’s brightly coloured and my mum often touches my jumpers.”

But it's not just in Gwent, where the tradition is growing. The jumpers are popular all over the UK with Christmas jumper businesses being kept busier than ever.

Cheesy Christmas Jumpers, a UK family run company based in Bradford, that began in 2009, started creating niche festive jumpers for a select few and has seen the business grow and grow in recent years. The company, set up by father and son, Paul and Mark Everett, was launched after the pair wanted to start designing and producing affordable Christmas jumpers online.

The company was the first company in the UK to create the now-famous, light up Christmas jumpers. Their unique designs even have removable battery packs to make the garments easy to wash and dry. Year on year the company aim to create the cheesiest, ugliest, most outrageous jumper, that beats last year’s designs.

Head designer, Mark Everertt, who has a passion for festive jumpers and garments said: “We came up with the name Cheesy Christmas jumpers, because when we started, that was the name that was always used to refer to them and we just caught on to it.

“We create all different designs, with our best seller being a flashing fire place, with a 3D bow, wreath and stockings.

“I really think in recent years the media have caught on to this trend and it has therefore gone over to the retailers, which has caused them to increase in popularity. I’m not sure how many we sell exactly but our stock sells out every year and we then have to start preparing in January to meet demands for the next Christmas.”