Let's choose hope and kindness

The start of the New Year is often a time of reflection and renewal and I am sure many of us, particularly those with young children, will have seen a portrayal of the nativity story with the archetypal homeless family relying on the kindness of strangers, living in temporary accommodation, before fleeing for their lives as refugees (does any of that sound familiar?) but it was the arrival of the three wise men and their gifts that struck me and left me wondering what gifts we as an Association would want to bring at the start of a New Year.

If we are to embrace hope rather than hopelessness, the first gift needs to be simply each other. Let’s extend the gift of generosity and kindness, whether it’s the phone call to someone who is struggling, or a sector led offer to a neighbour, never forgetting that our friends tell it how it is rather then how we might want it to be. If we don’t look after ourselves and each other we are not in a position to help those in need. It would also be great to see that kindness extended to inform both central and local government policy decisions as well as the delivery of the services we are responsible for.