Council Leaders Blog: Christmas wishes and reflections from 2025

As we all start to prepare for a busy few weeks, whether that's spending time with family and friends, looking after children, or even working over the holiday period to support others this is a time for us all to reflect on the year we leave behind.

I want to give thanks to everyone across our borough who is supporting others through this Christmas period, many selflessly volunteering their time to make sure that everyone in our community has the opportunity to not face this time alone. We and our partners across the borough will continue to be at hand, delivering the vital services you rely on every day.

As I look back on this last year I'm immensely proud to see the community come together to support #LoveStHelens, which was led by St Helens Parish Church and backed by us, and hear so many people speak with passion and pride of our great borough.

At its essence this campaign has been driven by a desire that those who call St Helens Borough home can all play a part in supporting our area. There are so many people making a difference every day for their own communities, businesses that are putting our borough on the map for their innovative work and role models who are inspiring the next generation of Sintelliners to aim for the stars and build aspirations.

#LoveStHelens has shone a spotlight on the fantastic things that make St Helens Borough great - from a fantastic festival of events in the summer organised by St Helens Parish Church that focused on the best of our borough, through to great community events including Armed Forces Day, Heritage Festival, Pride, Newton Show and most recently our Light Up the Square events to welcome the Christmas season.

It's been backed by young and old alike and I've been delighted to see schools across the borough embrace the message with children and I've spoken to a number of schools who continue to back our campaign around building aspirations that young people living here can achieve anything.

And when we talk about loving our borough, there's nothing more that instils pride for the majority of our residents than how much we love Saints and they have really taken this message to heart. It was brilliant to see them come to St Helens Parish Church this summer to train in the heart of Church Square. Even the unseasonably (well I'll let you be the judge of that!) wet weather didn't put people off coming down to watch their heroes train.

As we look forward to a new start in 2026 I hope we can all reflect on things we love about the place we call home and make a resolution to remember that a little bit of positivity can go a long way to making everyone's life a little better.

Merry Christmas and wishing you a happy New Year.

Councillor Anthony Burns