Arran Banner Letters – week 49, 2025

Support over the festive season

Sir,

Christmas is a chance to celebrate and create lasting memories with those closest to us. But for anyone experiencing dying, death or bereavement the festive season can be particularly challenging and difficult to navigate. Many carers, families and friends need help to get them through the season, but don’t know where to access that support.

Marie Curie – Scotland’s leading end of life charity - believes everyone should have expert care and support at the end of life, free from unnecessary pain, and have the dignity and respect they deserve, whatever the illness, wherever they are. Our free Support Line is open over the festive season, including Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, offering practical and emotional support on everything from managing symptoms, navigating care to financial information, including how to get help with energy bills, and bereavement support.

Whether you’re facing the last Christmas with a loved one or the first without them, our trained support line officers are here to help and provide a listening ear, as well as our Companion over the phone and Bereavement Support Service that offer regular calls at a time that suits you.

Contact Marie Curie for free on 0800 090 2309, email support@mariecurie.org.uk or visit mariecurie.org.uk/support-line to see more ways to get in touch.

Yours,

Charlotte Lindley,

Marie Curie.

Turn hunger into hope with Double the Love

Sir,

As a great grandmother at 87 years old, I may be slowing down a little, but I’m certainly not ready to stop moving for a good cause. Recently, I took on my third fundraising challenge for Mary’s Meals - cycling 30 miles on my tricycle around a racetrack, over three days, to celebrate the charity reaching the incredible milestone of feeding three million hungry children every school day.

Mary’s Meals is a charity very close to my heart. They provide daily school meals for children in some of the world’s poorest communities offering them food, hope, and the chance of an education. After seeing the life-changing difference a simple school meal could make when I visited Malawi, I knew I had to help in whatever way I could.

This Christmas, there’s a wonderful way everyone can support Mary’s Meals. Through their Double The Love appeal, every donation made will be matched by a group of generous supporters, up to £1.1 million. That means your gift can go twice as far to feed hungry children and help the charity keep their promise to the three million children who already eat nutritious meals every school day and reach those still waiting.

It costs only £19.15 to feed a child for a whole school year - and during Double The Love, that same donation will feed two children. Even the smallest gift makes a big difference, with each meal costing just 10p.

Gift matching will end once Mary’s Meals reaches the £1.1 million total so don’t miss out on the opportunity to see your kindness go even further.

If I can cycle 30 miles at my age, I hope it shows you’re never too old – or too young – to do something to help. Together this Christmas, we can turn hunger into hope for the children who need it most.

To learn more or donate, please visit www.marysmeals.org.uk.

Yours,

Ellison Hudson,

Mary’s Meals supporter.