Sunday was the start of Advent, a time when Christians prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

For many it is a time to shop for gifts, plan Christmas meals, and decorate the home. This Christmas will be different, decisions of who will be in your Christmas bubble, is a moral dilemma in itself!

For me, facing the first Christmas without my Dad surrounds me like a looming fog of sadness. I'm sure many feel like this and my thoughts are with them.

My Dad was the laughter in Christmas, a shoulder shaking laughter especially; at the family, all grown up, still playing games. This year it was Play that Tune with a Kazoo, my niece has a recording of my wife's epic rendition of Prince's Purple Rain, yes on a kazoo! My Dad's distinctive hearty, shoulder shaking laughter can be heard in the background.

I wish I took more photographs, I wish he'd let me record his adventures from the war of diving into a coal bunker with his cousin to avoid the Nazi bombs, I wish I'd had that last hug but we were in lockdown.

Each year The Town Council holds a Tree of Light service to remember loved ones lost and sing carols around the newly erected tree. We are invited to write messages on paper stars and hang them on the tree.

Of course, this year is different! You can light up the tree and send Morse code message to a loved one from your mobile phone thanks to the innovative Macclesfield Art Collective IDST, commissioned by LIT and Macclesfield Town Council. See details of how to do this here.

World AIDS Day on 1st December was the first example of a global health campaign. Each year we remember those lost to HIV+ related illnesses, continue to fight prejudice and misinformation about the virus and promote health and well-being.

HIV is NOT a gay plague it is a treatable, preventable virus that can affect anybody. In 2019 The National AIDS Trust found that 46.5% of people with HIV contacted the virus through heterosexual sex.

The best way to prevent the spread of the HIV virus is to use a condom or use PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) a drug that blocks the HIV virus from entering in a HIV negative person.

This is why it is so important to know your HIV status as 1 in 16 people do not know their HIV status.

You can find out more and donate to HIV charities at the National AIDS Trust, the Terrence Higgins Trust, or locally at Body Positive.