HAPPY NEW YEAR.  A phrase we have no doubt repeated several times over the last few days, but never said with more meaning than this new year with all the hopes for the future that it brings.  When we reflect on 2020, our thoughts are bound to be clouded by the very unhappy and cruel year it was for many people.  My most sincere wishes go to the people who have lost a loved one; to those in the NHS and care sector who have cared for the sick and dying with the most extraordinary devotion; to the key workers including teachers, police officers and housing and service providers; to the students and school children who have lived with uncertainty about their education but managed to stay positive about their studies;  to their parents and carers who have had to pull out all the stops to become home educators; and to all of us whose lives have been upset by coronavirus in 2020.  A huge thank you.

Since I last wrote to you, I enjoyed some Christmas cheer in the two Worcester News Carol Services held at the Cathedral on the Monday before Christmas.  I read a lesson with others telling the Christmas story and the Kings School choir sang beautifully.  This message we celebrated tells of a hope for better things to come in the future.  We certainly need that reassurance right now – and we have it in the roll out of the vaccines that are now available to protect us against this terrible disease.  I can’t wait to get my call to go for my vaccination, so I will feel safe again.

As we enter our third and hopefully our last lockdown, I am full of optimism for 2021.  I know it will take time to vaccinate all those who are at the most risk, and that our lives may not return to our old idea of normal for some time, but we have endured this before and we will do so again.  We will come through this, so with that in mind I say again HAPPY NEW YEAR.