SOCIAL Foodbanks 124819 No-one quite knows the exact origins of Boxing Day as there are many competing theories. Today, it is a second Christmas public holiday and associated with sales in the shops, but not this year. The numerous ideas of when Boxing Day started, and for what purpose, are probably all correct in their own way as the meaning has changed over time. One aspect is apparent throughout and is about giving something to others. One theory is that it marks the day when the alms box in churches was opened and the contents given to poor people. This is perhaps the furthest back theory and therefore, if accurate, the most likely to explain why it called Boxing Day.