Christmas wishes

I expect that most of you have already written and sent your Christmas Cards? Well in our house, we were doing quite well and then somehow and suddenly everything seemed to come to a standstill. The result, we are now scrambling about to get the job finished.

One of the nicest things about Christmas cards is that they provide the chance to catch up with people with whom there may otherwise be little contact over the course of a normal year. And 2020 has been far from a normal year! So catching up with family and friends, maybe scattered across the country - or even across the world - seems to me a very fitting action this Christmas time.

Normally Christmas is also a very social time of the year, and once again, this year is far from a 'normal' year, so we may even have missed out on some of the opportunities for socializing that Christmas might otherwise bring. All the more reason to send a greeting!

I am delighted this year to be bringing you, not just one, but two Christmas greetings! First, I have for you this delightful clip from our Club President, Billy Clayton. He is broadcasting live from Nazareth House. Priceless.

Christmas is a magical time of the year, and we could all do with a little bit of magic at the end of what has been one of the strangest year's that I have ever known. It seems to me however, that Christmas always offers a new start, the chance to begin again. That seems appropriate for us as a table tennis club. 2020 has been a year during which we have had to close our doors for at least 6 months, and even now we are not able to fully operate as we normally would. So my hope is that 2021 will provide the chance to begin again, a new start, a time to move on.

Below is my greeting card to you all, wishing you peace and joy this Christmas. But above all I hope this Christmas offers you the chance of a new start to begin again. I look forward to seeing you in the New Year!