My children and I were listening to them in the car when Nat King Coles The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot came on. At the end of the song my eldest piped up 'Mummy, that songs not true'. I asked him why. 'Because Santa Claus doesn't forget any children'. As I'd like him believing for a few more years yet I agreed that the song was wrong and every child gets a present at Christmas.
Sadly this just isn't true.
Recently Cllr Maskell and I popped in to the Salvation Army on the Oxford Road as we had been invited to see the huge piles of presents donated for those children that Santa may have 'forgotten'. We were told that in Reading west alone there had been 200 families referred to receive gifts for their children this year. The Reading Post's Giving Tree and Reading Chronicles Toys & Teens appeals also collect gifts for those who may otherwise go without and there are many other organisations that do the same.
Generosity like this, and the food bank collections I've seen in supermarkets and work places, is really what Christmas is about. Giving freely without expecting anything in return and making someones Christmas a little brighter.
Times are tough for a lot of families in Reading with 1 in 5 children in poverty. Let's hope there's not one child forgotten by Santa Claus this year, and if there isn't, it's thanks to the people of Reading.
I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and here's to a 2014 where we can all make a positive difference :)
Handing my contribution to Kenneth and his team |
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