By Tobe Okafor*
As you might have guessed, Boxing Day is not eponymous, deriving its name from the duelling sport. Neither does it have its origins in putting used wrapping paper into boxes, or with boxing up undesirable presents, or indeed with shopping or going on forced outings or any of the other activities that now characterise the day after Christmas. The origins of Boxing Day lie not in sport or peddling, but in small acts of kindness.
It is generally accepted that the name derives from the giving of Christmas âboxesâ, but there is no such consensus as to the exact make-up of those boxes and their initial disbursement. Some have traced the tradition to parishioners in churches in the Middle Ages who collected money for the poor in alms boxes. These boxes were opened on the day after Christmas in honour of St Stephen, the first Christian martyr, whose feast day falls on 26 December.