A word from the editor: Give yourselve positive resolutions for 2019

As a child I often spent New Year’s Eve with my grandparents. It was probably to give my parents a break and the opportunity to socialise with friends - a chance they didn’t often get having three children all very close together.

My grandparents made it very special for us -and we were always allowed a little drop of something just to “toast” the New Year. I remember having a sip of Babycham one year and thinking it was the most delicious thing I’d ever tasted! Another year, I remember the sickly taste of a snowball - not quite so nice as it looked.

When it came time to go to bed my grandad would tell us all to listen out for the traction engine, which was needed to pull the old year out and bring the new year in. I don’t know where that idea came from and can only assume it was a clever ruse to ensure we stayed in bed and went to sleep so he and grandma could enjoy some well-earned peace and quiet.

For me New Year’s resolutions are not about denying yourself - stopping this and stopping that - they should be about doing adding to your life, to society, community or your well-being. Do things that make you feel better - resolve to clear out that drawer in the kitchen full of junk, or throw away all those clothes that don’t fit you, rather than resolving to always be tidy or lose a stone so your old clothes fit. Do the little things which will bring some positive feelings to you or others, rather than make promises which will be abandoned leaving you feeling a guilty failure by February.

I still have my grandma’s Babycham glass and it will come out of the cupboard tonight to toast 2018, and wish you all well for 2019.