At this time of year, as we immerse ourselves in the festive season, Christmas, and the new year, many of us quite naturally find ourselves extra busy focusing on our families, particularly wide eyed, excited young children, as well as various outings to concerts, pantomimes, work parties and social gatherings. Often with lots of eating and drinking – frequently to excess!
Alongside the opportunity to connect with loved ones, decorate our houses, send and receive presents and cards (increasingly expensive though that has become!) many of us look forward to the chance to take a break at home or at relatives after the frantic build up or even head off on holiday away from it all. I’ve experienced all of these types of Christmases, at different points in my life. This year the 25th December will be a quiet day with my mother and, later on, my son.
For many people of course, it is also a time to embrace the Christian roots to the holiday period and we are encouraged to remember those less fortunate than ourselves who may be spending the period alone, not by choice, or in other very difficult circumstances. When the weather is cold as it has been recently, the chill winds somehow seem to exacerbate even more that gap between those who are able to celebrate with their families and friends and those who cannot.
Many charities step up their campaigns, quite rightly, around this time to prompt us to give towards their various causes, often through financial or other donations or sometimes the gift of time. Lots of homeless organisations in particular, such as Shelter and Crisis at Christmas, welcome contributions or volunteer effort during this period. Each year, the quizmaster at our recent Annual General Meeting, Mick Dore, also generously opens up his doors at the Alexandra pub for anyone who would otherwise be on their own on Christmas Day, a fabulous gesture.
Earlier this year Wimblecomm helped promote the Merton Inter-Faith Walk which took place in April. We were delighted that the organiser, Richard Smart, from the local Salvation Army was able to attend our recent AGM as well. The walk was also used to raise funds for the Faith In Action led Merton Homelessness Project. I recently connected with Grace O’Neill, who heads the amazing team at the Drop In Centre in Kingston Road. Grace and the team work closely with local organisations such as DLAG and Wimbledon Foodbank to help those less fortunate.
I was overwhelmed by the generosity of spirit of the Faith In Action team, after they helped me out with a difficult issue recently and am resolved to support them in the new year. As I mentioned last week, despite my years working in the social housing sector, I have learned quite a lot, of late, about the difficulties some people face when they don’t have a home of their own and the lengths that some may go to, to secure a long-term comfortable residence.
Quite coincidentally I visited an old friend in a different part of the country in the last week, whose situation had recently changed as well. Whilst her approach to her financial and domestic difficulties was very different, these episodes have opened up my eyes to better understand how events can quickly lead to new quite challenging circumstances.
The local Faith In Action team held a Christmas concert this week, at which my fellow trustee, Kirsty Warwick was singing. It was also attended by my colleague Natalie Romero who took the picture which accompanies this week’s blog. Donations to support their important ongoing work, not just for Christmas, can be made here.
I’ve mentioned before that I hoped the last 12 months would be transformative and it has, in ways I didn’t expect. Honesty for me has become a big thing. Next week as we bring my 2024 blogs to a close, I’ll open up on one of the biggest lessons in honesty that I’ve learned this year.