Keep your festive frenzy local this year

EVERY year it’s the same – I swear I won’t be caught out by the Christmas rush again. I shall be organised. I shall have lists. And I shall start early.

And every single year, I fail.

Distracted by Halloween and Bonfire Night, by the slew of birthdays in November and by other expenses pressing on my pay packet, I am that vaguely dishevelled woman in Marks and Spencer in Christmas week, sweating with the pressure and the collective heat of the knitwear department.

I hate it. And yet I sort of grudgingly love it at the same time.

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the last minute dash to the shops, the speed-oflight writing of cards the day before the last posting date, the sickening tummy-drop when you realise you’ve forgotten to buy for the neighbour’s grandson and they’re due round at yours for a sherry in 10 minutes.

And if I’m honest, I’m not a fan of the festive season beginning early anyway. Who needs Advent calendars arriving in September and the big boxes of chocs jostling for shelf position with the back-to-school wear?

I don’t want to join the throngs of the smug who, when asked if they’ve ‘started’ yet (always a loaded question come December 1) they reply with a knowing smile: ‘Started? Finished and wrapped!’

So you see where I’m at here? In the past it’s been a balancing act between being too organised and losing the Christmas spirit or being utterly disorganised and losing my mind.

And I quite often land on the latter side of the line. This year, though, it really will be different.

I don’t think there is one of us who hasn’t thought, however briefly, about the festive season and how it will be in this craziest of years.

Who will we see? How will we see them? And how on earth are we to shop when the high street experience is so challenging?

So here’s my plan. Start early and keep local.

That way both your nerves, your local high street and perhaps even your bank balance will feel the benefit.

Independent shops and businesses are under immense strain now and the festive season could make or break many.

If we can all do our bit to help them – and help ourselves to boot – then why not?

As for me? Well, I’ve already begun the shopping.

OK, my haul consists of some bargain gift tags and a candle, but I bought them from a shop just round the corner.

So in every sense –

it’s a start.