Merry Christmas to all my connections and all our clients and client teams.

Hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year break with family and friends.

If you are travelling, hope you manage to avoid the travel disruptions at this time of the year and outrageous air fares and manage to preserve your travel sanity through the break.

On a more grim note, who is not having a merry Christmas this year – the list is long –

The children of Ukraine, hiding from drone attacks darkening the sky,

The children of gaza, ‘collateral damage’ in the thousands, in the war of revenge to extinguish a terrorist group

The families of Israeli and other hostages waiting for loved ones to come home

The children in the forgotten wars in Sudan and Yemen

The women of Afganisthan

The forgotten refugee kids from the Syrian war

All those who are finding it hard to make ends meet as cost of living pressures sky rocket,

Mums who have to choose been feeding their kids and getting a Christmas present. No mum should have to choose between the two.

The women who will be added to the already gruesome statistics of family violence which spikes over Christmas

This Christmas all the more we need miracles, how many will be granted, anyone’s guess but that is faith.

As Pope Francis said two Christmases back, ‘we pray that over hate may love win, over lies may truth win, over offense may forgiveness win, over war may peace win. So be it.’

Those words are much needed this Christmas.

Given the year we have had I think even Santa, Rudolf and the Elfs all will need therapy.

Merry Christmas