We can pitch in to bring magic this Xmas Day

IT’S been a tough year for all of us. Unable to see family for much of it, or even pop down to the pub for a jar with friends.

But this year has been hardest of all for children, deprived for months of their education and confined to home with an Xbox by their bedside for company.

That’s if they were lucky.

For too many families, that is out of reach. Some parents can’t even afford beds for their kids.

And now comes the toughest time of all, with Christmas approaching.

What should be a time of wonder and excitement could be for too many children the bleakest Christmas ever.

Eight in 10 low-income families will struggle to pay for Christmas this year and parents are now agonising over how to tell their children Santa’s deliveries may not arrive.

Some may not even be able to afford a decent Christmas dinner, let alone all the trimmings.

That is why the Sunday Mirror is getting together with Save the Children for our Save A Kid’s Christmas appeal this year.

Our ambition is to raise enough money to ensure that no child is forced to go without over this season of goodwill.

I appreciate what a tall order that is with so many not in work or on furlough.

But I am always humbled by the generosity of Sunday Mirror readers – and I promise that every little you can spare will go a long way to bring some Christmas cheer to desperate families.

Christmas is not going to be the same this year.

But if we can bring a smile to a child’s face, not all of its magic need be lost.