IT'S been another year to remember in Renfrewshire and we hope all of our readers have a wonderful Christmas.
Our community leaders have sent us their festive messages and their wishes for everything 2020 will bring.
Lorraine Cameron
Renfrewshire Provost
Merry Christmas and happy New Year to everyone
This year, as usual, I will be spending Christmas with my family.
In our family, it is always all about the children and we spend our days playing their new games with them, watching movies and eating the vast supplies of chocolate.
However, life is not like that for a lot of children. For some, there will be no happy Christmas with the people who are supposed to care for them and love them.
Please take a moment to remember this and, if you can, make a wee donation to your local charity to help those children experience a bit of joy.
Also, please spare a thought for our armed forces and emergency services over the festive period.
They do the most difficult jobs to keep us safe and secure all year round.
Please raise a glass to them when you gather to enjoy this year’s festivities.
I wish all Renfrewshire citizens a very merry and peaceful Christmas and a happy new year when it comes.
Mhairi Black
MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South
Let’s all remember to think of those less fortunate
Merry Christmas to you and yours and best wishes for 2020. I hope the new year, and the new decade, bring you everything you’re hoping for.
Politically, 2019 has been one of the most intense years in recent memory, and that’s saying something when you look at any year in the past five.
When the year started, we had a different prime minister, running a minority government with the backing of the DUP.
We finish it with Boris Johnson as prime minister, holding a massive majority delivered to him by seats that had never before voted Tory since their establishment.
The result of the election is still sinking in but I want to take this chance to once again say thank-you to everyone who placed their trust in me, for the third time, to represent them in Westminster.
For now, I hope everyone is able to take a rest and focus on spending time with our families and friends. Christmas is a wonderful time of year but it’s easy to forget that, for some, it can be the hardest time of the year.
If you have any neighbours who will be alone on Christmas, please consider dropping in on them.
Jack McHugh
Paisley and Greenock Presbytery Moderator
Christmas marks birth of Jesus and God’s greatest gift
We have all probably heard the song played in shops and supermarkets that tells us Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year – a time for families to get together and a time to give and receive gifts.
Sadly, the true meaning of Christmas can often be forgotten in the frantic shopping, cooking and celebrating. There is something special in remembering once again that Christmas marks the coming into the world of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
I always look forward to Christmas, to be reminded afresh of God’s love for each one of us.
But even in the excitement and celebrations there will be many with heavy hearts. Let us not forget those who face this Christmas without someone they love, or the folk who will spend Christmas alone. Think of families who depend on foodbanks to feed them.
I thank God that He loved us so much that He sent Jesus Christ into this world.
May He be at the centre of all our Christmas celebrations.
I pray that we might all know the joy and the peace of Christmas and I wish you and your loved ones a joyful, blessed Christmas and new year.
Derek Mackay
Renfrewshire North and West MSP
Christmas is ideal time to think of all that unites us
As we reach the end of our calendar year, we reflect on what has been and what is to come.
I’ve spent my year working hard to increase prosperity and fairness for all, nationally and locally, but it is awful to think, in this rich country, there are still people struggling to feed themselves and provide for their families.
The work of organisations such as foodbanks and Renfrewshire Christmas Toy Bank at this time of year is greatly appreciated but it is regrettable that these charities are needed.
The recent General Election saw a stunning victory for the SNP in Scotland, diverging from the toxic and insular politics elsewhere.
In Scotland, we can choose a different path. In many ways, we already have.
People are more engaged than ever before, which is a good thing.
Whatever our politics, let’s be kinder to each other, listen to each other and remember that there is more that unities us than divides us.
I would like to wish everyone a joyful and peaceful time over the festive period. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.
Tom Arthur
Renfrewshire South MSP
Help to make sure no-one feels alone at this time of year
I HOPE that everyone in Renfrewshire South has a lovely Christmas and is looking forward to welcoming a new year – and the start of a new decade – filled with joy and opportunity.
As well as a time for celebration, this is also a time to reflect and to help those who may be alone over the festive season.
We are lucky to have so many groups and organisations across Renfrewshire South working tirelessly all year for the good of our communities.
I’d like to thank everyone who took part in my 2019 Christmas card competition, which this year had a theme of ‘what Christmas means to you.’
It was great to receive so many responses and I was hugely impressed by the wealth of talent and creativity on display in our local primary schools.
As we move into another period of wintry weather, it is also important to thank members of the health and emergency services, postal workers and everyone working over the festive period doing everything they can to serve our communities – especially in difficult conditions.
Iain Nicolson
Renfrewshire Council leader
I’d like to sing the praises of council’s dedicated workers
This festive period will see us looking ahead to a brand-new decade where new opportunities and investment will see the area transformed by the time we reach another new decade in 2030.
One thing we have always had is an outstanding workforce within Renfrewshire Council who are working hard to make the area a great place to live, work and visit all-year-round.
Many of them will be looking forward to some well-deserved relaxation over the festive period.
However, many of our workers on the frontline continue to deliver our essential services throughout Christmas and New Year and I want to take this opportunity to praise the fantastic job they do at this time of year.
From our community meals team delivering food to those who need it, our housing team carrying out emergency repairs and our gritting staff who are keeping our roads clear all winter, to our Care at Home team looking after our vulnerable residents, bin collection teams and homeless support officers, they make sure we are there for everyone who needs us every day of the year.
These lifeline services are relied upon by residents, so it’s important we recognise the people who are out in our neighbourhoods making a difference and I thank them for the work they do.
John Keenan
Bishop of the Diocese of Paisley
Christmas season is a celebration of everlasting light
A VERY Happy Christmas to all the readers, supporters and staff of The Gazette.
There is something in all of us that wants to bring light into the darkness of winter time and I am sure that, since human beings have lived in this area, they will always have had their festivals of light to chase away the fear and gloom of the season with the magic of fire and flames.
The word Barr means a poet, or someone who sings ballads and songs to brighten up his folk’s lives with tales of gods and heroes, of good triumphing over evil, of love winning out over hate, of faith conquering lingering doubts, and of hope chasing away fear.
The Christmas story would have given our local Barr the best ballad of them all.
And, best of all, his story would be true, about a bona fide entry into our history, a sure consolation that God is with us in our journey through life, promising us a home in Heaven at the last. I hope all of you can hear this song in the carols playing across Renfrewshire and be sure your Christmas season is celebrating something real – the promise of true and everlasting light and joy.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Gavin Newlands
Paisley and Renfrewshire North MP
Let us be hopeful, rather than fearful, of the year ahead
As we leave one decade and enter another, it’s time for the spirit of hope to win over the fear that, for too long over recent years, has been allowed to take control of our politics and our way of looking at society.
Our community has shown time and time again that the values of trust, generosity and compassion will be with us for a long time to come.
It’s that spirit that all of us know we must fight to protect over the inhumanity that has festered for far too long.
At times, 2019 has been a troubling and worrying year. The recent election campaign was clouded by a lack of compassion and the fear that even more families will need to rely on foodbanks at Christmases to come.
But I’m optimistic 2020 will be a year when our community and our country work towards a more progressive future in a Scotland that supports and protects our fellow citizens and works with our friends aboard.
When the bells chime on Hogmanay, let’s all resolve to be positive about where our future will take us and think of the best of our fellow humans.
I wish all readers of The Gazette a happy Christmas and a great New Year. Lang may yer lums reek!
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