CHRISTMAS comes but once a year and many of you will look forward to a little time relaxing with friends and family. However, the John Lewis advertisement reminds us that it is important that we reach out to those who are elderly, infirm, have recently lost a close relative or who are just on their own at this time of year.
I also want to thank those people who will be working whilst most of us relax – the doctors and nurses, the firefighters, the police, the shop assistants, the waiters and waitresses and those who serve in the armed forces at home and abroad. We live in an increasingly busy 365 day a week 24 hour a day world so it may be that many of us will have to work to make sure the country keeps running.
Around the world, there will be so many less fortunate than ourselves, and UK aid will be helping millions of them over the holidays.
Finally I hope you all tuck into local produce and shop in local stores when you prepare for the Christmas break. Our local food producers work tirelessly all year round to make sure you can enjoy the best quality goods.
I hope you all have a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
HARRIETT BALDWIN – WEST WORCESTERSHIRE MP
THE MAIN theme that always comes to my mind whenever I consider any aspect of Christmas is hope. For Christians, Christmas marks the arrival of the saviour Jesus Christ. His birth brought hope for the future of mankind.
The Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol is full of hope. Hope that we can right the wrongs of our own deeds but also those in our society as well. There’s the hope for peace on earth and the personal hopes we all have this time of year –maybe a new job or that big lottery win.
Hope is important because life is full of challenges and obstacles. This district and this council will be faced with many of them over the next 12 months and the coming years as we continue to undergo a transformation the like of which I don’t believe local government has ever experienced.
There will be tough decisions that have to be taken but we will meet those challenges, we will overcome those obstacles, because of our determination, our ability and hope. Hope isn’t about putting your head in the sand and believing you will achieve something without actually getting anywhere. In fact it’s the opposite.
The person who has hope, has the determination to achieve their goals. The person that has hope, finds more than one way to get to where they want to go. The person that has hope has the will to succeed.
Whatever you hope for this Christmas and in 2016, it’s my hope that you succeed in making it happen. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
COUN PHIL GROVE – LEADER OF MALVERN HILLS DISTRICT COUNCIL
THIS Christmas Tim Peake will be looking down on earth from space. It’s an arresting view which has filled everyone who has seen it with awe. The first photograph from space of that floating ball we call earth, of our island home, has impressed itself upon the consciousness of us all but actually to see it must be breath-taking.
More breath-taking still is the great good news of Christmas, that God who created all that immensity of the vast universe in which we are placed chose to come and share it with us as a human being to show us the depth of his love for us.
At the beginning of St Matthew’s gospel an angel quotes the prophet Isaiah to Joseph in a dream: ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’ which means ‘God is with us.’ Jesus’s last words at the end of the gospel are ‘Remember, I am with you always.’
God is not just on our side, is not just working for us, he is with us, to assure us that we are never alone, never without an all-powerful friend and advocate, never without God.
May you feel God’s presence and love this Christmas and always.
As Christmas approaches, I wanted to send out festive greetings to everyone throughout Worcestershire.
BISHOP OF WORCESTER – Dr JOHN INGE
BEING Chairman of the County Council is truly an honour, I have met so many people who give their time freely as carers or volunteers.
There are many unsung heroes in Worcestershire, people who work tirelessly for the benefit of others, and I have been touched by their warmth and generosity throughout the year.
As I reflect on my time as Chairman, the highlight for me has been my Charity Day at Morgan Motors at Malvern in October where we enjoyed a tour of the factory and raised £4,081 for Acorns Hospice in Worcester and the new Oncology Unit at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
Also, it has been my pleasure to host the Duke of Gloucester twice; at Kemp Hospice, Armada UK and the Museum of Carpets in Kidderminster in June, and in November to open Worcester’s new Fire Station.
I have also been lucky enough to represent the Council during my year as civic head at the events to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta in Surrey in June and recently to visit Buckingham Palace to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Three Choirs Festival.
It has been such a pleasure being Chairman of the County Council throughout this exciting year.
I also want to take time to thank all of those people who will be working over the Christmas period and cannot be with their families. I make particular mention of our servicemen, who in these often threatening times continue to show remarkable courage and devotion to duty, not forgetting their families awaiting their safe return home.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
IAN HOPWOOD – CHAIRMAN OF WORCESTERSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
CHRISTMAS is of course a time for loved ones – family and friends.
Our increasingly frenetic and disjointed lifestyles mean that for many this is the only time we can spend quality time with those who mean most to us – we should rightly make the most of the opportunity.
One does not have to be Christian however to embrace the example set by he whose birth is celebrated at this time. When someone is suffering and in need, when someone asks for our help – or indeed through pride is reluctant to do so – we should look beyond race and creed and see a fellow human being.
At some point in our lives, every one of us will have cause to depend on the common humanity of others.
Let us all this Christmas set an example by showing goodwill not just to those near to us – that is surely the easy part – but also to those who, though strangers, require our compassion.
A huge thank you to those who open their homes and their hearts, who volunteer to support those in need, who work selflessly so all may be safe and secure.
Happy Christmas to you all and best wishes for 2016.
JULIAN ROSKAMS – LEADER OF DEMOCRATIC GROUP AT MALVERN HILLS DISTRICT COUNCIL
I was recently informed that Christmas had nothing to do with Christianity, it is merely a holiday.
Perhaps it is time therefore to remind ourselves of its true meaning.
Christmas is an annual commemoration, celebrating the birth over 2000 years ago of Jesus Christ. Today, all those years later,there are hundreds of millions of people world wide who believe in and follow Jesus and call themselves Christians.
Some may question His relevance today when so many evil things happen, such as in Paris. Why does he let it happen? But his relevance today is greater than ever.
He has shown us the way to behave. If we choose to ignore Him, it is our fault, with consequential results. The proof, if any is needed, that Christianity is alive and well in the United Kingdom can be found on Christmas Eve, eve and Christmas Day when our churches and cathedrals are packed to the doors with worshippers.
A story I read recently perhaps illustrates a point.A primary school mistress was teaching her pupils the Ten Commandments. “Honour your father and your mother.” she said. A small girl raised her hand and asked if there was a commandment to protect brothers and sisters. Instantly, a boy called out “You shall not kill.|”
Christmas is therefore not merely a holiday. Happy Christmas everybody.
MAYOR OF MALVERN – JULIAN I’ANSON
