Christmas Day is for most a time to spend with family and other loved ones. As a public holiday most people get Christmas Day off work- but of course for some in essential roles like the blue-light emergency services work must continue even on that day.
Dedicated public sector workers such as doctors, nurses, police, fire and Armed Forces personnel all may sacrifice their holidays to ensure that help is on hand to those who really need it. To thank our local hospital staff every year on Christmas Day I visit the A&E Department at Northampton General Hospital (NGH).
For the past nine years on Christmas Day I have visited the Hospital to meet and talk to the hard-working staff caring for those in need. My visits have become something of a tradition in which I bring plenty of sweets! This year again I joined many of the staff on duty at Northampton General Hospital A&E quite early on Christmas morning as we got together for an impromptu group photograph.
Another Christmas morning tradition for me is to be interviewed live on BBC Radio Northampton. We often have a more light-hearted conversation on the radio on Christmas Day. I was able to discuss the work of our Armed Forces and NHS staff during Christmas and thank them for their work. Another unchanging annual tradition (not universally popular!), is to ask the radio host to play a favourite Christmas song: Mariah Carey’s “All I want for Christmas is You”.