Mayor Oliver Coppard admits times are tough in Christmas message but acknowledges community spirit

This is his Christmas message:

“It’s a special time of year. Just when winter really begins to bite and it’s dark long before you get home, the streets fill with light and noise and people celebrating with friends and family. As the old song goes, it’s the most wonderful time of the year… except, I’m sure, for many of us, it doesn’t really feel like that this year.

“There is industrial action every single day from now until Christmas, as nurses, postal workers, rail workers fight to be paid enough money to heat their homes and feed their kids.

“Food prices are rising all the time. Temperatures are plummeting, while the costs of keeping warm are going the other way. There’s even a shortage of turkeys.

“Happy Christmas everyone.

“This winter feels hard, I know, because what we’re going through is extremely hard. And sometimes big celebrations like Christmas can make it seem harder. The stress of trying to make it work, of trying to keep everyone happy while making sure the sums still add up. The stress of trying to do as much, with much, much less.

“But there is light in the darkness too. South Yorkshire has a motto, each shall strive for the welfare of all, and I see that ethos every day. I visited Stannington last week, where a flooded gas mains left thousands with no heating just as the cold snap hit. An awful situation, even more so for those with health conditions or small children.

“The stoicism of those affected was deeply impressive, as was the work of volunteers who swung into action making sure everyone was okay. Across South Yorkshire there are people doing amazing work helping each other through the winter.

“The S6 Foodbank, serves hundreds of families across our community every week. The team at Baby Basics make sure babies have what they need at the beginning of their lives.

“As South Yorkshire’s Mayor I promise to do whatever I can to help too. I can’t fix every problem, but I will do my best with the powers and money I have.

“We’ve made bus and tram fares cheaper to help ease the burden of rising costs. Our councils are doing amazing work too, and there is help out there for those who need it the most.

“We’ve drawn together information about the different sources of help available on our website here – please do share with anyone who may find it useful.

I’m also working with the South Yorkshire Community Foundation to ask people who can afford it to donate what they can from their energy rebate; so we can get money directly to those groups and organisations helping people through this crisis, doing incredible, important work across our region.

Yes, this is a tough winter, but we are a community that looks after each other, and that is the light in our darkness.”