‘…and so each time I get something new, I swap it for something else. And so on and so on.’
I paused for a sip of coffee. My mum, sitting opposite me in our living room beside the Christmas tree, sipped hers.
‘I could really do with something like that.’
I smiled. ‘It’s yours, if there’s something you can give me in return.’
For some weeks in the build-up to Christmas, my part in the Barnardo’s Green Paperclip Challenge had taken a back seat. The flask that my flatmate had given me sat gathering dust on the shelf, lingering in the corner of my vision like a half-forgotten promise as I turned in assignment after assignment. I had ignored it, telling myself that I’d sort it, that it just wasn’t a priority right now, that I’d sort something out eventually. I did make an effort to approach people, but when they didn’t take the hint I didn’t press the issue. And perhaps a part of me didn’t want to. People are attached to their possessions, whether they ought to be or not, and I was often too reluctant to venture so far with those I didn’t know well. What right had I to demand they give up something of theirs, no matter how small? I knew I would have been reluctant to give something of mine away to someone I only spoke to in passing, especially when it’s on the spot. It seemed unfair to force that discomfort onto someone else.
When I began packing for Christmas, I made sure to take the flask with me. I vowed that it would no longer be in possession by the time I returned to the University. So, when my Mum asked me if I was using the flask she had found in my bag, the day I arrived home for Christmas, I explained to her what it was for. In return for the flask, she gave me a pair of brand new gloves.
This restored some of the confidence I had lost and it was the reason why, when I went to visit my grandparents a few days later, I took the gloves with me. As before, I explained the details of the challenge. I left my grandparents’ without the gloves, and with the small makeup palette that I had gotten in return from them.
For some reason, it hadn’t occurred to me before to ask my family for help. But that’s what Christmas is all about: family.
Many of the children that Barnardo’s helps don’t have that same luxury of a family that cares for and supports them. That’s why organisations like Barnardo’s deserve all the support they can get. That’s why I’m going to continue.
http://www.barnardos.org.uk/get_involved/fundraise/run_a_barnardos_event/one_green_paperclip.htm