For some people in Watford this will be their first Christmas alone. Many people have told me in 2020 how much they miss the office, or popping in to see their neighbours, or the packed stands at Vicarage Road, or the hustle and bustle of High Street. But to be apart from those closest to you at Christmas time takes the feeling of loneliness, of ‘missing’ something, to an entirely new level.

It will be a strange feeling for those of us used to large family gatherings at this time of year to spend Christmas day in smaller groups away from grandparents, cousins, uncles and aunts. For those spending Christmas alone, the sense of loneliness is being felt most severely.

How can we support each other, and be there for each other when we can’t meet? Showing appreciation for people ‘remotely’ can feel almost inhuman, as the compassion and togetherness that marks Christmas – giving gifts, singing carols – is such a human experience.

As we look back on 2020, the best displays of appreciation and compassion included the ten weeks of ‘clap for carers’ at the beginning of the first lockdown and in our street the experience I am most looking forward to is the bell-ringing and ‘We wish you a Merry Christmas’ singalong at 6pm on Christmas Eve.

In such uncertain times having something to look forward to is essential. Though the Government is not to blame for the new strain of Covid-19 that so cruelly emerged in the run-up to Christmas, it was not fair to raise the hopes of so many people only to dash them at such short notice.

As 2020 ends with the success of the vaccine, I hope we can all look forward to a time when we can be together again.

  • Chris Ostrowski was the Labour parliamentary candidate for Watford in 2017 and 2019