A NEW Year message from Richard Millard, leader of East Hampshire District Council:

LIKE many others, East Hampshire District Council has seen both struggle and celebration over the last 12 months.

We all work hard to achieve our goals, but whatever your business, if you’re not careful you can be so focused on your personal objectives that you become blinkered to the needs of others.

East Hampshire is an affluent and attractive area to live in, and we are fortunate to live here.

However, not everyone in the district lives so comfortably. There are pockets of deprivation within the district and even in the areas of more obvious affluence, there are individuals who need our support.

Across the district there are people living in isolation, who are vulnerable or who need, or would significantly benefit from, the support of the community around them.

Loneliness and social isolation are particularly harmful to our health. Research shows that lacking social connections can be as damaging to our health as smoking or obesity.

But we can all do something to help others in our community. We can drop in on an elderly resident who doesn’t get many visitors or run an errand for someone who finds it difficult to get out and about.

Whatever our own situation, we can always find time to do something for others. Of course, it’s easily said and not so easily done, but simple, small acts of kindness can make a big difference to someone’s life.

I was lucky enough to attend the volunteer awards before Christmas and was enormously impressed by the winners’ willingness to dedicate their lives for the benefit of others.

We don’t necessarily have to fully emulate the efforts of those community heroes, but if we all pull together, even in small ways, then we can make a massive difference to the lives of people who need our support.

I want to wish everyone a wonderful and compassionate 2018 and thank you all for making East Hampshire the caring, strong-hearted community it is.

Richard Millard

Leader

East Hampshire

District Council