Christmas Greetings

Bracknell MP James Sunderland

Christmas is a time of joy for many but please spare a thought for those on their own this year.

Loneliness can be a problem, notably for older people, so I am thankful to all of our local charities and churches who do so much for our community at Christmas. And let’s also acknowledge those who are working, including our brilliant NHS, blue light services, care home staff, HM Forces, engineers and other key workers.

I take my hat off to everyone who puts duty before personal considerations and thank you for everything that you do in support of others. For me this year, I will be attending as many events and activities as I can in Bracknell Constituency and seeing my own family.

Part of my job is to say thank you to those who make a difference locally and it is a great privilege to be able to do so. Merry Christmas.

Maidenhead MP Theresa May

I always enjoy joining in Christmas festivities across the constituency and would like to thank all those who give of their time to help others have an enjoyable and happy Christmas.

I would also like to thank all those, particularly people working in our emergency services, who will be working over the Christmas period so that we can all enjoy the festivities with our friends and family.

I would like to wish all my constituents a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Reading East MP Matt Rodda

As we approach Christmas I would like to wish everyone in our community and the wider world a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

I hope that everyone, across our community gets the chance to enjoy the festive season and to spend time with their friends and family.

It has been a difficult year for many local residents due to the cost of living crisis and many other issues and I want to thank all those who are supporting those in need.

I do hope that our whole community will be able to enjoy Christmas and that we can all look forward to a brighter New Year.

Wokingham MP Sir John Redwood

I love Christmas. I take a child-like delight in the lights, the decorations, the presents and the Christmas cake. I want Christmas to be a special time for every family and magical for every child.

I will attend local carol concerts, write Christmas messages and be around in Wokingham town.

I will thank all who look after us and work so hard over the Christmas period so others may relax or concentrate on family duties at home. I will send plenty of cards.

Christmas is a time to visit the lonely, to send a message or gift to someone in need, to remember people from your past that would appreciate a shared memory and a kind word. It is a time to remind us all that little acts of individual kindness can make so much difference to those around us.

This Christmas we will spare a thought for those caught in the violence and bitterness of war. I will work with local services for people in need to ensure our response to homelessness, mental illness and addiction is as good as it can be.

The Christmas message is Christian but also universal. The innocence of a newborn baby reminds us of the importance of love and care in our world. The celebration of a new birth offers hope, and the opportunity to bring joy into children’s lives with Santa, presents and mince pies.

I will decorate my house. I will light a tree laden with baubles that mean something to me collected over the years. I will put on the Christmas music.

I will enjoy making the Christmas pudding, roasting the turkey and bringing my family together for a festive meal. I will also have fun at a Christmas show with them.

May you and yours have a wonderful winter break.

Wokingham Borough Mayor, Beth Rowland

As your mayor, I have seen so many ways you share the spirit of Christmas – not just in December, but throughout the year. It has been my privilege to join charities, community groups and good causes as they have sought to make Wokingham Borough a better place for every resident.

Among the many, many visits I have enjoyed, some have stood out. The Dialogue Society where people from many faiths and cultures shared a meal together (and very good it was) took part in a quiz, but importantly shared friendship with each other to promote understanding of each other’s cultures. I was privileged to share Christmas Carols with children from some of our primary schools.

We shared a celebration of Christmas in music with an orchestra from Berkshire Music Trust at Loddon Valley Leisure Centre. Our children were magnificent and I am very grateful for all the hard work both they and their teachers spent practising. The musicians were fabulous; their skills made the evening such a success.

If you want to celebrate the spirit of the season by making a donation to charity, could I encourage you to support my charity of the year, Woodley Foodbank. So many of you kindly took part in a reverse advent calendar appeal last month, but the need continues. I want to ensure that no resident goes hungry, not just at Christmas, but throughout the year. I myself will be sharing Christmas Day with some of our residents who would otherwise be alone on Christmas Day – hosted by The Link Visiting Scheme – and would like to thank my family for allowing me to do this.

As you and your loved ones mark Christmas and the season of goodwill, I would like to send festive greetings to all of you over this Christmas period. I hope that you all have a healthy and peaceful Christmas and New Year.

■ woodleyfoodbank.org

Wokingham Borough Council leader Cllr Stephen Conway

I don’t think I’m the only one who believes, in defiance of all scientific fact, that time moves faster once December begins.

It seems only a short while ago that I was thinking that Christmas is a long way off and that I still had plenty of time to buy the presents I must give; now it’s almost upon us.

I hope your Christmas is a very happy one.

For most people in the borough, whatever their religious beliefs, Christmas is a time of merriment and celebration. They, like me, will be looking forward to spending a few days away from the pressures of work. The prospect of time off with family and friends is made all the more enticing by the short days and long evenings. Enjoying time at home in the warmth, surrounded by those you know and love, is a very comforting experience. After a challenging few months, with long and exhausting days, grappling with the council’s many problems,

I’m looking forward to it very much.

But I am also acutely aware of how lucky I am. I have a warm and welcoming home to go to; I have a loving family and good friends to spend time with over Christmas. For many people in our community, the reality will be very different.

Every year, Christmas is an occasion to be endured rather than enjoyed by people on their own. There is no starker reminder that you are alone than everyone else seeming to have family and friends with whom they can share the festive season.

For others, Christmas will be hard to celebrate because their financial circumstances are desperate.

Homelessness is a growing problem, even in Wokingham, much of it associated with private landlord no-fault evictions, but also family breakdowns, and people escaping domestic abuse.

Finding a new home when you have little money is no easy matter. High rents and a shortage of available properties make it impossible for a growing number of people to afford a place to live.

Shortage of money is also affecting many families and individuals who still have a roof over their heads. Headline inflation figures may be falling, but food inflation remains stubbornly high. And even when the rate of inflation falls, we should remember that just means prices are rising less quickly, not that they are actually falling. The number of people in our borough forced to use foodbanks is a sign of the seriousness of the situation. Imagine how heartbreaking it must be for parents struggling to buy their children the Christmas presents that others take for granted.

The borough council is working with its voluntary and charitable sector partners in the Hardship Alliance to do what it can to help, and I know there are a lot of local initiatives, often the work of parish and town councils, which are making life easier for many in need and for those who are experiencing loneliness.

But we can all do our bit – by giving money or goods to the charities that work so hard to help those who are struggling, by giving some time to help these organisations in the invaluable work they do, or even just by looking out for a neighbour or friend who we know to be on their own.

Christmas is a time for celebration and enjoyment. But it’s also a time when the moral message – shared by all faiths – of caring for others who are less fortunate than ourselves is more relevant than ever.

Earley Town Mayor, Cllr David Hare

Christmas is a time for festivities, family and friends. But do we know someone who will be left out, alone, this Christmas? Nicola (my wife) and I are helping at The Link Visiting Scheme (a wonderful charity who support people with befriending, activities and events) this Christmas, providing food, fun and friendship for others. It might be too late to use The Link but could you visit someone on their own this Christmas, someone who would value a visit.

As the angels said about Christmas ‘Peace on earth, Goodwill to ALL men’, it is the season of cheer, lets reach out and make sure we can all celebrate.

I attended two carol events last Saturday. The first was in Elms field when I sung with people of varied ethnic origins.

Some of the carols we sang in our own tongues, it was wonderful all singing together, even if I couldn’t understand the other languages! A carol we sung that I didn’t know was Christmas is the time of love.

That spoke to me, if we can love and value each other at Christmas isn’t that a picture of how we should always live, with love and understanding.

Then in the evening I attended the Carols by the Lake organised by Earley Town Council and the Earley Environmental Group. Again it was great to see a varied throng of people from Earley, the children had made lanterns with LED candles and it was very evocative.

Christmas is about unity, about working together, about peace and hope.

If we can meet together, sing together and enjoy things together at Christmas shouldn’t we be doing that throughout the year, understanding our cultural, religious or ethnic differences while celebrating our unity.

May I send Christmas greetings to all the residents of Earley and Wokingham. May you know the Peace, Hope and Love of the season, despite the current difficulties at home and abroad.

Can the inspirational message of Christmas be with us all at this time, sharing it with family and friends, enjoying relationships in all we do.

Woodley town council leader, Cllr Keith Baker

As Leader of Woodley Town Council it never ceases to amaze me how much compassion, caring and goodwill there is in our community. When times are incredibly stressful and families struggle to cope it is great to know that there are individuals and local organisations who will always go that extra yard to help them. Such volunteers do it with great caring not looking for any thanks which makes it even more remarkable.

We also need to thank all the essential workers who will be giving up their Christmas to provide the services we all often take for granted. Together they make Woodley an incredible community to live and work in.

We hope that your celebrations over this Christmas period, whatever they may be, are successful and set you up for an exciting New Year.

Wokingham Conservatives leader Cllr Pauline Jorgensen

Like many of us, Christmas for me is a time for family. It is also a chance to remember happy times with those who are no longer here.

Christmas gives a valuable opportunity to take a break from the business of everyday life and reflect on the end of the year.

Of course, many people don’t get a break at Christmas. Emergency service workers, carers, military personnel, and prison staff, among others, will continue to work to serve all of us, for which we are grateful. Spare a thought too for transport, engineering and IT workers who often work unsocial hours to provide essential services we all rely on.

For others December is an especially busy time and Christmas offers only scant respite – for clergy for example, taxi drivers and those working in hospitality and catering. Retail workers too will work right up to the closing hours of Christmas Eve, providing us with last minute gifts and the latest must haves – only to begin again with the Boxing Day sales.

It’s important to remember Christmas isn’t a happy time for everyone, for many different reasons. If we can look out for our friends and neighbours, small gestures might have a big impact. Perhaps by asking how they are and stopping for a friendly chat, we can make a difference.

I wish everyone, however you celebrate, a happy and peaceful Christmas.

Wokingham Labour leader Andy Croy

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all your readers and residents in the borough generally, a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from myself, the Labour Group of councillors on Wokingham Borough Council and Labour members across the Borough.

Christmas can be - should be - the best of times but it can also be the most difficult of time.

I will be thinking of those in our borough who, for whatever reason, will be struggling over the holiday period and who may be viewing the new year with trepidation.

When Joseph trekked across Palestine to Bethlehem to be registered for tax, he was very much a family man trying to do the right thing by his family and by the law, however oppressive, of the land. In exchange for trying to do the right thing, he and his family were badly let down with not even basic accommodation on offer.

This basic feeling of personally doing the right thing but being let down by the government is one which many will be sharing this Christmas period. Everything in the public sphere just feels broken.

Hopefully people will find some comfort in more time spent with families and loved ones and will come out of the Christmas period feeling a little more resilient then when they went into it.