Cllr Pauline Jorgensen

Christmas for me means family. Being together with those closest to you and remembering happy times with those who are no longer here. Taking time away from the busyness of everyday life, those constant distractions and demands on our attention. Eating turkey and playing games. Board games and Lego technic are particularly popular in our house. I’d love to be able to say everyone’s a winner, but we’re all too competitive for that.

This Christmas will be a different one for us. We will be hosting two very fluffy and highly discerning VIP guests: our son’s cats while he and his partner are away. So, one of our important pre-Christmas preparations will be cat-proofing the tree and decorations.

It’s the first Christmas that my husband and I will spend just the two of us since the pandemic. Before that, I can’t remember a Christmas we had on our own!

Christmas is also a time for giving. It’s important to remember Christmas isn’t a happy time for every- breakdowns, all too often involving violence and abuse. Behind the stark statistics of homelessness lie individual and family tragedies. High rents and a shortage of available properties make it impossible for a growing num-