Eight of us donned our best waterproofs and (mostly) civilian outfits to brave the atrocious weather and, er, head to pub for a crafty drink.

We also came prepared with all sorts of crafting gear - cards, stamps, stencils, stickers and decorations. You name it. Our brief was to channel our artistic sides and create hand-made Christmas cards for children under the care of CAMHS who’ll be in hospital over the festive period.

We spent a lovely couple of hours doodling, drawing, cutting, embossing, colouring-in, sticking, googlie-eye-ing, outlining and lettering.

The outcome was several dozen cards with a stunning array of artistic techniques and creativity. We saw reindeer, wobbly Christmas trees, robins, Santas, scary elves, spacemen… all of the usual Christmas designs.

Josie dog oversaw the proceedings and was in charge of looking cute.