Blue, Red, Orange, Green or Yellow. Who Cares?

Now that all the shouting over the election is over, I can honestly say that the whole shebang has been of no interest whatsoever. Looking at social media over the last couple of days, an awful lot of people are getting very worked up - either angry at the result or exuberant. But you know what, I don’t actually care. Evie is dead and won’t be living in this new world of ours. Whether Mr J keeps his promises and commitments just doesn’t appear on my horizon. Evie was my horizon. Evie was my future.

But before anyone gets all indignant and erupts into another politically-based diatribe let me explain something. Evie was a 13 year old young woman, and right from her Reception year when she won the ‘Kindness Cup’, she helped people. She did it in that quiet way that made a difference but didn’t attract a fanfare. It didn’t matter to Evie if the person she helped was a boy or a girl, had wealthy parents or not, was older or younger than her. She just saw a need and got on with it.

So whether or not Mr J and his merry band actually deliver on their promises, or if the Labour Party take a long hard look at themselves to understand why it went so badly wrong, there are still loads of people out there that need help. Evie’s Gift was set up after Evie died to look after parents in those critical first few days when their children are admitted to hospital far from home. We will continue to help those parents no matter how things turn out. We would still have been helping people if there had been a Labour government or a hung parliament. What is important is that Evie’s Gift and the thousands of other charities out there will continue to work no matter what colour the government is - blue, red, orange, green and so on. So you see, I really am not fussed about who won, who lost, by how many votes or reading the rants on FB about how fabulous or unjust it is. What is important to me is that Evie’s legacy of helping people lives on.

My challenge to the 650 newly elected MPs is a simple one. How about you now focus on what you were elected, and are paid, to do? Look after the interests and needs of your constituents? Help them. Help those in need. Help those less fortunate than you. No matter who you are, there is always someone else out there who has it worse than you. We have gone through the single most devastating event of our lives, yet I know of families in a worse place than us.

For those of you who have felt the need to vent your anger at the system over the result, or those that are jubilant at it, here is a challenge for you too. Channel that anger or joy into helping someone else. Do something, without being asked, to help someone else. Collect their wheelie bin, do some shopping for an elderly neighbour, or drop in on someone unannounced for a cuppa to break the cycle of isolation. The British population is about to stuff itself silly in a couple of weeks, while some won’t be able to afford much at all. So as my old dad used to say “Put your money where your mouth is”, instead of taking to social media, do something. Prove to the world, and to Evie, that you are prepared to help someone else. Because without actions to demonstrate your true worth, your words are no better than those of the politicians you are belittling; just hot air.

Evie’s Challenge to everyone who reads this is simple - do something over Christmas to help someone else. Put aside your Red, Blue, Orange, Green, Yellow or multi-coloured political rhetoric for a while because quite simply, it doesn’t matter. Christmas for us has lost the magic without Evie, so we will be in Bath all day, helping to deliver Bath Open Christmas to those who are ill, elderly, isolated or homeless. What will you be doing? Go on, take just a few minutes of your time and do something to help someone else - I dare you!