Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is included amongst our Care Experienced Writers because he was living in a foster care type arrangement at the age of 11 or 12 while his family was in a debtors' prison.


In the podcast, there's a discussion about the influence Dickens has had on Christmas celebrations in the UK and beyond. For some he’s even “the man who invented Christmas”.

Even the idea of a ‘white Christmas’ has been influenced by the fact that the first 8 Christmas’ Dickens experienced as a child were indeed icy cold.


According to Greg Jenner, "A Christmas Carol is the most famous Christmas story ever" (it sold out in 5 days when it was 1st published) with many adaptations including something like 30 films.