Make a child smile this Christmas

HALF-TERM, Halloween, Bonfire Night, all ticked off - and now? Well now thoughts turn to Christmas.

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The messages have started already: “What would the kids like?”, “Send your Christmas lists”, “Do you want to go see Santa with us?”

I adore Christmas, always have, and now with young kids of my own, it's even better.

But a huge serving of guilt comes with it.

My kids are beyond lucky - they are in a home that is warm and furnished.

They will go to bed on Christmas night, like any other night, in a clean, safe place, in their own clothes.

On Christmas night, as we close their bedroom doors, they will replay in their heads the toys they've had, the food they've eaten, the numerous treats they have enjoyed.

They may be too young to realise how lucky that makes them, but I'm not.

I know that not just miles from our home, but metres, there will be children going without.

There will be kids who don't get presents, who aren't eating treats from morning till night, who don't open one present and toss it aside before grabbing another.

There are kids watching Christmas films and reading Christmas books who think that a tree, a meal, a present are things you only get in a fictional setting.

There are far, far too many kids, a growing number, who are going without.