‘THIS was the first Christmas for some time that we are without any sort of lock-down or shielding we can be together; we can enjoy each other’s company again, and for that we must be thankful.

‘I look back over the last 12 months, the ups and the downs, the joy and the sadness, Covid was over, it was the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, 70 years on the throne an achievement matched by no other, a summer of record temperatures, Prime Ministers coming and going, and hardly having time to unpack.

Then in her 96th year Queen Elizabeth II died and we had a new King joy and sadness rolled up in one. 

‘This year had started with Russia invading Ukraine and we saw and supported refugees from this war torn county, here in Newton Abbot, but this war has brought us all high energy bills, gas, electric, petrol and diesel, have all climbed to record highs.

‘We must think about this last year and how we have got to where we are today, think about the people in this county that are struggling to make ends meet and how they spent their Christmas Day, some cold and hungry, some sick and some lonely and yes, some will have been all of these.

‘So perhaps 2022, more than any other, let us think about the meaning of Christmas and that first Christmas Day more than two thousand years ago, and the message that has been brought down to us over that time, a simple message of Love.

‘With this thought in mind I want to wish you all a very Happy Christmas, let us all look after each other and help where we can.’