This weekend, as you close the door after the last trip to the shops, poor a glass of wine and plonk yourself on the sofa knowing that Christmas can now really begin, please have in the back of your mind those who will be working to keep us safe and well over the festive period.
At home and overseas, our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines are doing our nation’s bidding. So too are those in our security services. In many ways their work will be unseen but their work is the blanket under which the UK sleeps safely each night.
Closer to home, our police, ambulance, fire and rescue services will be on duty responding to whatever emergencies might unfold. Some of them will be professionals but others will be volunteers like those in the RNLI, the Burnham Area Rescue Boat, the Mountain & Cliff Rescue or the Cave Rescue teams.
Then there will be the people at work in our NHS, in our care homes and the carers visiting the elderly and vulnerable in their own homes. And in our proudly agricultural county, there’ll be a few vets on call too.
During my military career, I spent a Christmas away in Afghanistan and some others on duty in the UK. No matter how many months beforehand you start to prepare yourself for Christmas ‘just being another day,’ you know deep down it’s not and you can’t help think about the friends and family who are celebrating without you. So I hope you’ll join me in saying thank you to all of those who will spend Christmas working to keep us safe and well. And I’ll finish by wishing them, and you, a very happy Christmas.