Christmas has come and gone, and whatever Christmastide means to you I hope that you and yours have had a happy and festive time – with New Year celebrations already a distant memory, may I wish you all a happy New Year too. 

Twelfth night has just passed, which for many means the taking down of Christmas decorations, not wanting bad luck to fall on them in the year to follow should they remain in place any longer than 12 days after Christmas.

In other parts, this day is called three kings day, and theologians tell the story of three wise men visiting an infant child born 12 days earlier. In Italy, Epiphany is associated with the figure of Befana a broomstick-riding old woman who, in the night between January 5 and 6, brings gifts to children.

To some, the broomstick also means the sweeping away of the problems of the year past, and looking forward to the New Year to come. Some also take this time after taking down the decorations to spring clean the house ready for the new year.

Many others make new year resolutions, to give something up, to try something new, to lose a few pounds, to be healthier, and many other things, and many of these resolutions will be broken over the course of the next few months too, no doubt 🙂 

For some however their Christmas and New Year has seen less joyous times, relationship breakdowns, domestic violence, substance and drug abuse, behavioural problems and unemployment are just some of the issues.

Those brave souls fleeing from such troubled situations, especially those with dependents, can be in a very similar situation to our Christmas story … no room at an inn or a hostel, no crib for a bed, just a mattress on the floor, and little in the way of gifts. And this is not in some far flung corner of the third world, this is happening in some of our major UK cities across the UK, right now!

After meeting the guys behind Forget-me-Notts, a UK project of Operation Orphan, a great charity looking after the needs of the children caught up in these troubling situations, I had an Epiphany of my own back in December 2018.

These tireless wise men (and women) get on their virtual broomsticks, Befana style, but don’t bear gifts of gold or Frankincense, but clothing, bedding, mattresses, toys, and whatever is needed to get these people back on track, and most importantly support the children and dependants that get caught up in something completely beyond their control ….

So my New Years resolution is to support these guys in any way I can. And not only for 2019 but for the long term.

Thousands of kids across the UK are in similar situations, and I hope, with your help too, can make a difference to these kids’ lives.

I’ll be blogging every month to keep you updated on events, how our progress is helping, and should you want to part of this too, why not drop me a line, it would be great to hear from you and help spread the message to other areas in the UK.