Happy Lunar New Year! Welcome to the Year of the Horse.

Led by some of our own colleagues with East and Southeast Asian heritage, we’ve been celebrating Lunar New Year together by sharing traditions, wishes and intentions, and stories of how our colleagues celebrate with their families and friends.

For Chantel, who is part of our Pet team, Lunar New Year has always been one of the biggest calendar events in her family.

“I’m from Hong Kong and we might celebrate for anywhere up to 15 days! As part of these celebrations, you get together with family and do different activities with your friends and loved ones.”

“My favourite part of these celebrations would definitely be receiving red envelopes, or packets as they are sometimes called, which are a symbol of good luck and blessings. We also have an amazing spread of food throughout the celebrations and wear bright colours like red, pink or gold. Again, these colours symbolise luck, protection, prosperity, renewal, and joy – helping to attract positive energy for the year ahead while warding off negativity from the past year.”

Chantel is also part of the Ethnicity and Culture working group, and for Lunar New Year the group has arranged for red envelopes to be shared with colleagues in the offices, each containing educational snippets about Lunar New Year along with some tasty treats.

The Ethnicity and Culture working group has also organised a digital wishing tree for colleagues to submit their wishes or intentions for the year. Colleagues can even try their hand at writing their wishes in Traditional Chinese!

“Celebrating this occasion here in the UK, away from my home, reminds me of the richness and individuality of my culture, and I’m proud to be able to share this experience with my friends and loved ones here so they get to experience the unique ways we celebrate too.
“I'm glad that people are interested in learning more about Lunar New Year, and my culture, but it’s important to remember this isn’t a trend – it's a big part of our annual traditions and whilst different countries celebrate it in different ways, the uniting themes are washing away any bad luck from the previous year, spending time with loved ones, making new commitments and welcoming luck and prosperity for the New Year.”