I've just encountered a slightly different version of this problem, in that my other half's card expires at the end of the month and I just tried to renew it, but the system says that it can't be done until after it expires, saying "try again on the 2nd Jan". Problem being they fly on the 2nd of Jan and need/want to use the Gold status again for that. The GGL phone team confirmed this is the case, and there's nothing they can do.

That being so, it shouldn't have been possible for your other half to gift the Gold card to someone during the period between the end of their membership year and the expiry of the card. I suspect it might be challenging finding someone who will both accept this argument AND have the ability to do something about it though. Maybe try BA Exec Club here on FT?