“The Christmas spirit is a spirit of giving and forgiving”

James Cash Penney

December is the month that often brings with it snow, feasts and festive fun.

But i say December is whatever matters to you the most – whether that is celebrating Christmas, being with your loved ones or reflecting on yourself and the year you’ve had.

“ time spent in self-reflection is never wasted – it is an intimate date with yourself”

Paul T. P. Wong 

Self-reflection helps you process your thoughts and feelings.

If you take a moment to pause, reflect and look within, you will find that you can learn a lot about yourself.

You can set goals for yourself and make realistic steps towards achieving them.

Self-reflection helps you live with more intention.

So my wish for everyone is to use this month to not only be merry, but to also be thankful, reflective, giving and forgiving. Let’s all make the last month of 2019 count.

There’s still time to do something meaningful, like volunteer to help during the festive season at a local charity,  youth club, homeless shelter or soup kitchen.

Let us all use the 12th calendar month to show love, compassion and solidarity to one another.

I hope you all have a meaningful Christmas and Happy New Year.

*Don’t forget, the Hackney Youth Parliament members are already starting to visit youth clubs around the Hackney borough to observe how eco-friendly they are.

If you want your youth club to be named the ‘Most Eco Friendly Youth Club’ at the next Hackney Youth Awards…make sure you are doing everything in your power to see that your youth club is being eco-friendly!