RANDOM acts of kindness are never more poignant than at Christmas. I know of a lot of organisations and individuals who like to give something back and I love reading about them in this paper.
They range from the councillor and all his volunteers who spend Christmas Day each year cooking lunch for people who would otherwise be alone, and the local charity B600, which is throwing a senior citizens' party in Harefield, to the soup kitchens and centres in Hillingdon that remain open for the homeless during the Christmas period.
Barclays bank runs wrapping stations in the shopping centres in Uxbridge, staffed by its employees, and these are big fundraisers for local charities. There are so many people who give up their time selflessly all over the borough.
I have two favourite charity projects that always result in me blubbing.
One is the Kids Company Christmas Day event that, without fail, I catch on the local news on Christmas Day every year, and I always end up reaching for the tissues.
This charity, run by its effervescent and colourful founder Camila Batmanghelidjh, organises a unique Christmas Day event for more than 2,000 vulnerable children in the London area.
Most of the children and young people find basic needs a daily struggle, and Christmas is an impossible dream. But Kids Company brings the day alive and gives them a Christmas to remember - all funded by donations from businesses and ordinary people like you and me.
The army of volunteers serves up a full Christmas meal for the 2,000 hungry children and helpers, gives out individual presents and food hampers, and throws a memorable Christmas Day party.
If you'd like to find out more, volunteer or donate, visit www.kidsco.org.uk or add them on Facebook to find out about their latest fundraising campaign.
My other favourite Christmas project is one that I organise as part of my part-time job at the toys and games company Hasbro.
We support a local women's refuge by giving the families that find themselves there a Christmas to remember.
The 300 staff at the Hasbro offices all donate items for each family unit living in the refuge. At the beginning of December every year we send the families off for lunch and to play at a children's play centre and when they leave we sneak our team of Santa's helpers into the refuge and put up all the Christmas decorations.
We deliver a box of toys and games for each child, goodies for the mums, and hampers full of food for the families to enjoy. Each year we get so many donations from staff that we're able to fill the communal kitchen and bathroom areas with goodies for the families to enjoy as well.
The feedback we have from the mums we help every year is that they are amazed that people who have never met them care enough to help them.
Without fail, I walk out every year from the refuge with a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye, appreciating the real meaning of Christmas and being thankful for the opportunity to make a difference.
Often we get caught up in the excesses of Christmas - piles of wrapping paper, the expense, the cooking - but a random act of kindness for a stranger beats gift-giving any day.
