Make our day a special one

We are starting to pay a bit more attention to our patron saint and celebrate our culture as other nations do, maybe not as much as some – with St Patrick’s day being one of the global celebrations of all things Irish.

Maybe it is time we celebrated our own patron saint with a wee bit of pride but possibly with something a bit more substantial.

Most of us know that Andrew was one of the apostles and was crucified in Greece, while spreading Christianity, on an X-shaped cross - which gives us the saltire.

His connection with Scotland does tend to remain in the place of legend and theory.

Did he come to Scotland and build a church somewhere (St Andrews) or were some of his bone relics brought to the country centuries later? We’ll probably never know.

What I do know is that on this day we are being encouraged to do a good deed to help others.

You may already have seen adverts regarding the #makesomeonesday campaign.

We can all do something that will make someone’s day a wee bit brighter by helping someone with the messages, giving one of our neighbours a packet of biscuits or (it’s that time of years again) clearing a path of leaves or snow (having our saint’s day at this time of year does offer many opportunities).

This is quite a refreshing way to look at our national day –unique and passing on a bit of kindness to others rather that spending time being self-indulgent.

We do have a way of looking at ourselves as welcoming, outward looking and offering a bit of help to those that need it.

This is the ideal way to prove this by doing a small thing that will hopefully be passed on.

Let’s make St Andrew’s day something that is different and show that we are part of a society that we can be proud of.

To find out more about #makesomeonesday you can go to www.scotland. org/events/st-andrews-day