Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Scott Begbie: We can’t all be local heroes like Lee McAllister this Christmas, but every little helps

All it takes is a little thought, a few minutes of your time and you can work a little Christmas miracle for someone.

All it takes is a little thought, a few minutes of your time and you can work a little Christmas miracle for someone.
All it takes is a little thought, a few minutes of your time and you can work a little Christmas miracle for someone.

So, the presents are wrapped and under the tree, the turkey and all the trimmings have all been bought in, Love Actually is on the telly and there’s fizz chilling in the fridge – just your typical Christmas Eve then, eh?

Which is fine and dandy for those of us lucky enough to be comfortable, warm and surrounded by the people we love.

So the least we can do on this special night, full of joy and excitement for the big day tomorrow is remember those for whom Christmas is not a celebration, but an ordeal.

These are the vulnerable, struggling families who are worried about how they can put food on the table for their kids on any day of the year, let alone splash out on a festive feast and presents for their little ones.

These are the elderly, trying to scrape by on a meagre pension, facing eyewatering energy bills that leave them scared to put the heating along, let alone power up the Christmas tree lights.

These are the people living on their own, without family or friends who see Christmas Day as just another 24 hours of grinding isolation.

Big thanks to Lee McAllister for stepping up

And these are the people we should remember as we splurge, unwrap gifts and stuff our faces.

So huge thanks to boxer Lee McAllister for stepping up and embracing the true spirit of this season by providing 200 Christmas meals for vulnerable and lonely pensioners on this Christmas Eve.

Not only that, the former world boxing champion has launched a Secret Santa drive to help struggling families give their kids presents and put a smile on their face.

His compassion does far more than give direct help to those who are benefitting from his generosity. It also reminds us all that we who have are the fortunate ones when so many have not.

It is clarion call, too, to not just shrug and say “aye, that’s not nice, but what can you do?”

You can do plenty, starting with donating to Lee’s cause – and the myriad other campaigns out there – to make Christmas better for those in need.

But you don’t have to put your hand in your pocket to make someone’s Christmas special – you can just stretch out a hand of friendship and caring.

If you have an elderly neighbour, someone you think might be struggling, or someone nearby who you know will be on their own, why not knock on their door, wish them a Merry Christmas and check to see how they are doing?

A smiling face and a little companionship is all some people want at this time of year and it is your gift – all of ours, in fact – to give.

All it takes is a little thought, a few minutes of your time and you can work a little Christmas miracle for someone.

Let’s all have a very Merry Christmas.


Scott Begbie is a journalist and editor, as well as PR and comms manager for Aberdeen Inspired.

Conversation