Over time we’ve become a nation that associates Christmas with festive jumpers and roast dinners while forgetting the real meaning of the holiday - love.
Marks and Spencer recently invited me up to London to get in the festive spirit and wrap some gifts for the children, parents and staff at Great Ormond Street to help them have a Christmas to remember. It was a really emotional evening and with every gift that I wrapped, I was imagining that person unwrapping and enjoying that gift with the warm feeling of knowing that a complete stranger is thinking of them at a time which probably isn’t the happiest for them.
To me, Christmas is a time for family as its one of the only times in the year that we all get together and share stories over mulled wine and festive foods, reconnecting and catching up on each others lives. I’m not big on receiving presents as I think time is much more valuable but I love buying thoughtful gifts for the people that I love.
Whether its a gig ticket for a band that my brother has wanted to see since forever or a winter coat that I noticed my mum eyeing up in a store last month, watching their faces light up when they rip open the wrapping paper is a moment that I look forward to and I’m a self confessed wrapping superstar so I love playing round with wrapping paper and ribbons to make the presents look as beautiful as I can!
I know its slightly contradictory to tell you how much Christmas is about family and then go on about how much I love buying presents, but they both have the same kind of meaning. Christmas is about love and family, in whichever way you perceive those two.
