Prepare a Way

I’ve decided to write a shared Christmas message this year for both our volunteers and our trusty army of supporters. Not because I’m short of novel things to say or time to invest in you wonderful people, but because, although you do different things, there is unity in the cause.

Whether you collect items in your church or donate funds monthly, you are the support team that ensures the volunteers on the frontline can operate. So, after a tough year with unfathomable events and unresolved feelings, we approach the feast.

In churches, the four Sundays before Christmas are called Advent. Sadly, I’m old enough to remember the old Advent calendars with zero chocolate but some exciting pictures behind each window! But I actually love this often overlooked season, if we can only reflect a little and do some work on getting ready for what is to come.

Prepare a way is the message.

How on earth do we prepare a way when we have so much weighing on us, and uncertainty is the only certainty nowadays? The 1970s rock musical Godspell sang of “day by day.” That’s good advice. When you can’t see much beyond the next few days, try taking it hour by hour, even!

Our volunteers and donors this year have enabled us to walk alongside people at their most difficult moments—relationship breakdowns, debt, domestic abuse, addiction, or unemployment. The reasons people seek help are many, but the response is the same—caring, compassionate, and with an understanding that big issues need addressing rather than hiding!

I’m so proud of our teams. Thank you so much for everything you do.

As an organisation, we are ‘preparing the way’ by looking at what we do and how we do it. That’s so we can try to ensure that the core services you have known us for can continue—despite the frankly difficult circumstances for all charities. No one has a magic formula to protect us from change or bring certainty about what 2026 will bring, but we are so grateful for our donors, old and new, who will help us meet the challenges of rising costs and the end of grant funding.

All of us, whether Christians or not, long to prepare a way… for something better. A society where there is dignified work, warm homes, food security, and understanding between neighbors. Peace on Earth might seem more of a distant hope this year, but day by day and hour by hour, we prepare—here in our towns, villages, and neighborhoods—for better times ahead.

However you will celebrate when the big day comes, have a very special one.
Happy Christmas.

Richard Owens
CEO