By Robert Surcouf
REFLECTING on 2024 as we get ready to celebrate Christmas Day and the start of a New Year, I want to take a moment to consider those who will be finding this a challenging time. Many will have lost loved ones or have had to watch them deteriorate due to health conditions. Others are struggling with their own demons or challenging health decisions. For some they are having to make difficult decisions for their family in light of domestic abuse. For all these people this Christmas may be a very different affair to Christmas gone by, however there is support available on this incredible island that we are lucky to call home.
We have some very dedicated first responders and frontline health and care providers who will not be with their family and friends sharing Christmas dinner as they care for those in need, sometimes in very difficult circumstances. To those people, on behalf of all of us, I would like to say a very big thank you.
We are also as an island blessed to have some incredible charities that are there to support members of our community in so many different ways, from being at the end of the phone able to listen, to providing a roof and a hot meal on a cold winter night. The work of the third sector in the Island, as recognised in the recent PWC report makes a huge difference to so many people in our community and is invaluable.
This advent the AJC have been promoting a variety of ways that we can support the third sector and many have answered that call to arms. At this time the giving of gifts help our charities continue to face ever growing demand for their services against the backdrop of increasing prices. Whether making a donation, or shopping for pre-loved items at a charity shops, or volunteering on projects or fundraising events, every penny and every minute is helping make a positive difference here in Jersey. I know all those charities and the people they help are very grateful!
As we find ourselves a quarter of a century in to the new millennium a lot has changed but sadly too much seems to have changed for the worse. The enthusiasm and optimism have been replaced by anger and division across the globe. As a parent who in 2025 will have two teenagers, one hopefully off to university, I am concerned about the sort of future they face. Twice before we have seen the world dragged into unbelievable conflict and, once again, we are seeing a level of political rhetoric and hostility that we should all be concerned. We are also seeing state-sponsored death and destruction at a level that cannot be justified and must not be excused as that road will lead us all into a very dark place. The same is true with respect to how we engage with one another and, in a small island community, small positive steps can have a huge impact.
The incredible bravery of Gisèle Pelicot to publicly share her horrific experience at the hands of her husband and 50 other men is a sign of the heroism of some individuals and the depravity of others. We have recently seen locally a number of convictions relating to violence against women and girls and the bravery of those victims must be recognised. As we go into 2025, I hope our government and our whole community continue to support the adoption of all the recommendations from the Taskforce on Violence Against Women and Girls. These can have a material positive impact on all our lives and the quality of life for our loved ones.
It is very positive that there is now much more focus to better educate our community on what is and is not acceptable behaviour. Women and girls should not be stepping either out or in to their front door fearful of what might happen to them either in public or in their own home. As a society we can and we must do better and this is an area where the third sector has been making a very positive difference in both helping support victims and their families while also enhancing education and engagement to better explain what coercive and inappropriate behaviour looks like.
Listening to Luke Hart speak at a recent Freeda event about his childhood living in a household with a manipulative coercive father that tragically ended with the murder of his mother and sister it was eye opening as to how this behaviour might, for a long period, only manifest itself through less obvious coercive behaviours but underneath there is a tinder box waiting to explode into flames with tragic results. It was great to see many youngsters from our schools at this event engaging with Luke and asking questions and clearly appreciating the important message.
There are many recent examples of charities engaging with schools and also schools promoting the positive benefits of volunteering and the third sector as a career opportunity and this is to be celebrated. As a community we have to face up to challenges together and if we can engage with our young people and set a good example then I hope we have a far more positive future on our beautiful island home.
Merry Christmas and all the best for 2025.
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Robert Surcouf comes from a Jersey farming family, though his mother was Spanish and moved to Jersey in the 1960s. He became an accountant and now specialises in risk and enterprise management. A father of two school-age children, he still helps organise and participates in local motorsport events and was one of the founding members of Better Way 2022 before the last election. The views expressed are his own.
