Sometimes we do not like to be reminded of the flip side of Christmas. The reality is, however, that many will not wake up Christmas morning, faces filled with 'glee', ripping off the wrapping to find a joy within.

Before I continue I would like to wish every reader of the Community Website section and particularly those concerned with Darwen Town Centre's little corner of the web a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Initially, I had intended to pen a witty, panto-like tale around the town center's Christmas lights and the sudden arrival of Dorothy Gale and Toto the dog in a house dropping from the sky outside the market hall. And Dorothy's whimsical amusement at it all. With added songs and dance routines for good measure *winks*.

'Hey, I thought' and promptly threw that idea in the proverbial and metaphorical bin of memory. My thoughts turned to the flip side of Christmas. Call it a 'b side' of unheard hits. The side we often do not see or notice. But for many it is a very real reality. From the homeless, the elderly or infirm, the depressed, those in despair or simply no relatives to share this time of year.

For many of those I describe Christmas will pass on by, not even touch them. Just getting by one day to the next is a 'present' all in itself.

As an aside, you know it's wondrous what spending five minutes talking or listening to someone can do. The immense difference it can bring. Just a few minutes of time can be the most precious gift imaginable. The feeling that someone has 'heard' their voice. Simply taken notice. A kindly voice ... a moment spent here or there. Just sitting with someone is a gift beyond words.

Right about now, I was to include a link to a short programme entitled simply 'The Festive Season' I produced way back in 1991 and let it speak for itself.

Alas, when it was time to transfer to DVD then PC, the tape had degraded badly. Well, it was 16 years ago *chuckles ironically*. But a timely reminder to anyone out there that video doesn't last forever and, for anyone who has cherished memories or holiday footage on VHS - transfer it now to DVD! Or those memories will crumble into a 'noisy' storm-like blizzard. Gone for good.

All those years ago, my thoughts turned to another side of Christmas. The side we often do not want to acknowledge exists but is always there, often out of sight purely because of what it means or represents.

The brief I seized upon was very simple: illustrate another side to Christmas contrasted against the capitalized nature of what this event had become.

Armed only with a video camera, I set off into the wilds of Blackburn shopping centre to get as much footage to illustrate this as possible. Being younger back then, 'I had something to say'. And to anyone who took five minutes to stop, take notice and mull over what they saw or heard. Merely a social discourse and a humanitarian tale.

You know, it was very nostalgic seeing the shops then as opposed to now. Many have gone including Dixons and how the center has changed significantly. The shop displays including Boots window were a surprising pleasure to view, too. Oh, and the decorations which abounded back then, too. A visual feast.

All things change, though. But it's still sad to see how things were to how they are now in so many many ways.

But it's still as relevant now as then. A simple, but powerful message.

I felt this was something that needed to be voiced and addressed. To pull the curtain, like Dorothy Gale in the Wizard of Oz away from the artificial nature of Christmas and peer into the deeper, darker and unseen side obscured behind a veil of consumerism.

Intertwined with the imagery were three talking heads. Only their lips could be seen (you'll read why later on).

Diligently, transcribing from the VHS tape I provide below in it's entirety minus the visuals.

Oh, I am not going to preach - but is merely a commentary on what I saw around me at the time - just provide some thoughts but at the heart of it all is merely to say that: The greatest and ultimate gift at Christmas is simply charity. For charity also brings hope.

So, here is really the only remnant of all that hard work done all those years ago in this transcription. And the message it contains.

TITLE GRAPHIC: The Festive Season

GRAPHICS FX INTRO/CAPTION:

Christmas is a traditional time for caring and giving gifts to one another.

This tradition was of course, started when the three Wise Men gave their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh 1991 years ago to the newly born infant Jesus.

Today, however, the tale is quite a different one ...

Narrator:

In the present, Christmas is about sell, sell, sell' and buy, buy, buy'. No one has any time for anyone else.

Every Christmas millions of pounds are spent by the general public whilst buying gifts for their loved ones.

Pressure, of different kinds including moral pressure, is forced upon people to buy these products. Many of whom are going to buy gifts well beyond their means this Christmas.

Millions of people are put under pressure from their children to buy them the latest and most expensive toy this Christmas.

Talking Head 1:

My children will not be getting any presents this year. Toys are just far too expensive. My children will be ridiculed at school, just because their parents can't afford to buy them anything. My children will have a very unhappy time this Christmas.

Narrator:

Advertising for Christmas can start as early as the beginning of September. Children's toys are advertised at the appropriate' time of day. Using carefully constructed advertising techniques people are lulled into buying these products.

Things like £50 off, don't pay any more until next February' are just some of the ways manufacturers and shops get people to buy their products.

Millions of pounds are spent on advertising in the press and television for Christmas.

Is this an unfair means of manipulating the public into buying?

Is this unfair in a completely different way?

Talking Head 2:

Will anyone care that I am homeless at Christmas? I will spend Christmas in a lonely, wet, damp cardboard box underneath a lonely motorway bridge in London.

I will spend Christmas alone and without anybody to share it with.

Will anyone think of me this Christmas?

Narrator:

Apart from all this buying, spending and stress Christmas is a time for happiness, hope and joy. Or, at least, this is how it is perceived that this time of year should be.

It is a time for getting together with relatives and loved ones. A time for remembering and a time for looking to the future.

Is this the true conception of what Christmas truly is?

Talking Head 3:

What about me? Does anyone care that I am alone and without friends or relatives? Will anyone care that I am going to spend Christmas alone in a lonely flat?

CAPTION/GRAPHICS SCREEN 1-3:

As well as the commercial side of Christmas there is also the side where the true meaning of Christmas lies: religion.

Christmas is also about celebrating the birth of the Saviour of Mankind: Jesus Christ.

Christmas is celebrated by special church services including Christingle, Midnight Mass and the Christmas Day service.

These services bring people together from all walks of life for a joyous event. However, fewer and fewer people attend these services and most are not even bothered about what the true meaning of Christmas is.

All the people featured in this programme are faceless because they are all but forgotten at Christmas. Therefore no one knows who they are:

THEY ARE THE ANONYMOUS THIS CHRISTMAS

Whilst you have been watching this short presentation many children in Third World countries have died. Many more will follow after you have finished watching this presentation.

END TITLES/CREDITS RUN