Jenny Bathurst: “Unforgettable togetherness and solidarity”

They say that Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, but I reckon that solely depends on whether you enjoy buying gifts or not. Take myself and my mum for example. She might burn all my presents for announcing this to the thousands, but she hates present buying. Not because she is heartless or selfish or doesn’t want to treat the people she loves, but because she cannot stand the stress of not being able to find the perfect present in the masses of people that swarm the high street during the festive period.

And I can completely understand. You put your thick winter coat on and prepare yourself for a productive day of shopping, only to end up carrying your coat all day because the shop thermostats are set to boiling and finding not one item that you came out looking for. And perhaps this is why I have been rather enjoying the festive season this year. Although chronic illness isn’t exactly my favourite aspect of my life, it did give me an excuse to do all my shopping online. Yes, the postal strikes have made it a little trickier than usual to navigate, but I must admit there is a certain ease to it with the vast quantity of products that can be found at a click of a button.

I spoke recently in one of my columns about how Christmas has become so commercialised and traditions have become so expensive that the seasonal magic is suddenly unattainable for so many. This is so unfortunately true, and yet there is this kind of camaraderie between us Brits that has formed in a desperate attempt to save our pennies. Although my mum might find the frantic search for pressies stressful and I love the challenge of hunting down something my loved ones will adore, we can both agree on a mutual challenge: cost. For me, I struggle with delivery costs. I refuse to pay more for delivery than the actual item. It might actually be cheaper to train up a carrier pigeon to source the gift and fly it to my home. For others it’s standing in front of a gift which they are certain their friend or family member will love but knowing that their wallet won’t allow for how expensive it has been priced at. But there is something so comforting about understanding that it really is a team effort. A massive team effort actually, between everyone who faces the struggle of having to choose one comfort over another to keep costs down. Money saving TV shows, magazine features and even just conversations with friends all reinforce the fact that we are not alone when we say that we would rather ensure our families are fed than buy an organic hot chocolate at the Christmas market for £7.80 or shell out on every novelty Christmas food item no matter how appealing it looks. I by no means claim that I have it particularly hard or that I deeply understand the struggles of many families during this festive period, but the togetherness and solidarity that I have witnessed as a nation over these past years is unforgettable and will be so for the rest of my life.