A thank-you for your church hall Christmas party team for older people: paper hats, a hot dinner, a carol round the piano and lifts home in the dark, as a jigsaw with your note at the end

Written by the team behind Puzzlify. Puzzlify is our product, so weigh what follows with that in mind. We've tried to make this useful even if you never use it. We're not affiliated with any church, diocese, parochial church council, care provider, charity or community organisation.

Every December, in a lot of church halls, the trestle tables go out in long rows, the paper tablecloths go on, and a few dozen older people from the parish arrive for a Christmas party. Some come in by taxi, some on a friend's arm, some driven by a volunteer who knocked on the door at a quarter to twelve. There's a hot dinner, crackers and paper hats, a raffle with a tin of biscuits as first prize, and at some point someone sits down at the old upright piano and everybody sings. For some guests it's the only Christmas meal they'll eat in company. This short guide is about thanking the people who make that afternoon happen.

Here are a few ideas, with an honest look at whether a photo puzzle is a good fit.

What the party team actually does

It looks different in every parish, but the work often includes:

• drawing up the guest list with the pastoral visitors and checking who needs a lift
• ringing round in November, and ringing again the week before, because people forget
• planning a menu that works for soft diets, small appetites and the odd allergy
• cooking or collecting the dinner and keeping it hot in the hall kitchen
• laying the tables, putting out the crackers and finding enough chairs with arms
• driving guests there and back, often in the dark by half past four
• clearing up, washing up, and dropping off a plate of leftovers on the way home

Why it's worth saying

The guests usually say thank you on the day, warmly and more than once. What the team rarely hears is what the party meant afterwards: the neighbour who talked about it for a week, the widower who wore his paper hat home, the daughter three hundred miles away who was glad her mum wasn't on her own. Passing that back to the team is a real gift.

When to say it

A word on the day, while the tables are being cleared, is lovely. A fuller thank-you in early January, when the hall is quiet again and the team is wondering whether to do it all next year, often lands best of all.

What makes a good photo

• the long tables laid with crackers before the doors open
• the old upright piano with a carol book open on the stand
• a row of paper hats on the table at the end of the meal
• the raffle table with its tin of biscuits and bottle of sherry
• the hall windows lit up from outside on a dark December afternoon
• the volunteers' car keys in a pile on the kitchen hatch

Follow your church's photo policy, and always ask guests before taking or sharing a photo with them in it. A picture of the room or the table is often just as good.

Choosing a piece count

If the person receiving it isn't very confident with phones or tablets, 24 or 48 pieces keeps it fun rather than fiddly.

Note examples

• "My mum talked about your party all through Christmas. Thank you."
• "You made the hall feel like a family dining room."
• "Thank you for the lifts home in the dark."
• "Mr Evans wore his paper hat until Boxing Day."
• "Thank you for noticing who might be on their own, and doing something about it."

What it costs, plainly

The preview is free, so you can see how it looks before deciding anything. Publishing the link costs one credit (€3.99), or less per puzzle with a bundle. It's a digital puzzle, not a printed or cardboard one, so there's nothing to post. The person receiving it doesn't need an account or an app; they open the link and your note appears when the last piece goes in. If a card is enough, it is.

Ideas that are not a puzzle

• a card signed by the guests, passed round with the coffee
• naming the team in the parish magazine and the Sunday notices
• offering to drive next year, or to wash up, and putting it in the diary now
• a tin of good biscuits or a box of chocolates for the hall kitchen
• asking a guest to write a line or two that you pass on to the team
• telling the team what you saw, in your own words, the following Sunday

Where Puzzlify fits

Puzzlify turns a personal photo into a private digital jigsaw you send as a link. It is not a printed puzzle and not a public puzzle board; only the people you send it to can open it. It is one option among many. It is not puzzlify.io, Puzzlit, Puzzly or Puzzify, which are different things.

If you'd like to try it, choose the laid tables, the piano or the lit hall windows, pick a piece count and write your note. You can make one here.

Written by the small team behind Puzzlify (info@puzzlify.app). Not legal, religious, safeguarding, food hygiene, allergen, transport, photography permission or gift policy advice.