Christmas past and present part 2:
Focus on the family…

…but don't forget people who are lonely.

Dinny Hills

"Many people spend Christmas on their own and are extremely lonely," says Ashtead at… treasurer Dinny Hills. "I think that families should spend less time concentrating entirely on themselves and find a way of involving someone who would otherwise be lonely. Just calling in and saying 'Happy Christmas' would make a huge difference.

"I am one of the luckiest people. If you include all my various sons- and daughters-in-law, I have 17 people in my family. This includes four great grandchildren. There are plenty of people for me to visit.

"The first seven years of my life I lived in Russia. My father's family started the first department store in Moscow and my mother's father had set up an engineering business. Christmas festivities revolved around the British colony living there. We had to leave at the beginning of the revolution in 1918 when I was seven and a half years old. I can still remember arriving back in Newcastle after a six-week journey."

Go to next article - Father Christmas - a saint in person - main article part 3

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