A Christmas message from the Adver editor (From Swindon Advertiser)

A Christmas message from the Adver editor

8:00am Friday 25th December 2009 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(3)

WE have finally got here! Christmas Day has dawned and as always it is an opportune time to take stock of the year.

The Queen spoke many moons ago of her personal annus horribilis - this following the break-up in 1992 of the marriages of Princes Charles and Andrew, Princess Anne's divorce, plus the devastating fire at Windsor Castle.

Well as a nation, perhaps even globally, this has been our own horrible year. 2009 will be consigned to the dustbin of history as a year best forgotten when the Damocles' Sword of economic uncertainty hovered over all of us, causing pain and misery to many.

In Swindon, we've had to bear our own fair share of desperate economic news. Job losses at our major employers, and smaller firms too which saw a sharp rise in unemployment. Those who have kept their jobs have seen wages frozen or even cut - and in the case of Honda workers, there was the four-month shut-down.

One major regeneration project has bitten the dust in Swindon, though as one business leader pointed out the other week, the town has seen the birth this year of 900 new firms. So there must be something right with the water.

During the worst of those dark days, we all wondered what shape we would be in come the end of the year. 2010, it was promised, would see the economy sail into calmer waters after the storms of 2009, so recovery could begin. We shall see.

Often what keeps everyone going is the sense of family. When the going gets tough, that is when family and friends matter most; when the bonds are strongest having been tested to the full. Christmas is all about family, about sharing, about belonging with those who are closest to us.

Though rampant commercialism has tended to destroy the soul of Christmas, it still remains the most special of times; a time to take stock, a time to renew and a time to look forward.

I will be sharing today with those who matter most to me, rejoicing in the Christian message which Christmas brings. It is the birth of a new dawn, of promise and hope, and one must cling on to that belief as we charter our way through an uncertain 2010.

Have strength in your faith, have strength in each other - and a happy Christmas.