My halo slipped long ago but angels walk among us every day - Christa Ackroyd

But of course Margot isn’t an angel. She is six years old. And if you’d heard her arguing with her older equally strong-willed sister and standing her ground this week, you would understand why I would say that. But then no child is always an angel, are they?

In fact, I would be rather worried if they were. However, for a girl who likes sparkles and prettiness, I would have thought being chosen to play one in front of a church packed with parents and peers would have been right up her street.

Not according to Margot.

In regaling us with endless detail about what time everyone needed to be there and where at the church where the school holds the annual carol service, I could sense her disappointment.

“What’s the matter, Margot?” I asked. “Don’t you want to be an angel?” “Not really,” she said. “It’s boring. I’ve done it before.” Okay, fair enough. I get her point.

Now of course I would have given my right arm to have been chosen to be an angel, all shimmery in white and tinsel with wings to boot. But it was never going to happen.

My halo slipped long ago. Nor did I ever stand a chance at being Mary, which I secretly think Margot aspires to be. I think the nearest I got was being a shepherd one year, although I was regularly chosen as the narrator who spoke a lot. I wonder why?

However all this talk of angels got me thinking.

Do I believe in them? Yes, I do. According to the Bible, there is a mention of angels more than 300 times in both the Old Testament and the New.

According to the story of creation, they were made on the second day long before Adam and Eve messed things up and were created as winged messengers from God.

Reading further and deeper, I understand we are not supposed to pray to them, that is reserved for God himself, but we might just see one when we need one, if we are very lucky.

And of course the Christmas story is centred very much on the chief angel, Gabriel, who appeared to Mary to tell her she was carrying Jesus. But I was interested to read that he is also a key figure in Judaism and Islam, so he is a pretty important angel then.

But yes, I have seen plenty of angels. In fact, without sounding too trite, they walk among us every day.

Last year my beloved Homeless Street Angels recorded their first Christmas single, There are Angels on Earth. And I truly believe that firmly. In doing so the Street Angels raised much needed money to tackle the growing crisis of homelessness, the evidence of which we see on our streets every day.

The support they received from that fundraiser enabled them to take the biggest leap of faith I witnessed last year and purchase Abi House just off Meanwood Road near the centre of Leeds, named after a much loved sister who died and which opened just a couple of weeks ago as a support centre for those who find themselves with nowhere to go and no one to turn to.

And there were plenty of angels on hand to help them achieve their ambitious dream.

When the electric shutters didn’t work an angel came to fix them. When they needed somewhere to cook their food handed out with love every week a renowned chef and his wife not only created a kitchen free of charge but offered to come and help teach those who have been found a place to call their own how to cook.

Others came in their droves to paint, tile, carpet and much more, all out of the goodness of their hearts.

And next year art classes, acting classes (for fun and confidence) creative writing and whatever else they think of will sit alongside the programme of support the Street Angels offer when they help find a roof over the heads of those who have given up hope and find themselves sitting in doorways, alone and struggling to survive.

If they need a TV or a fridge or a carpet or a bed they only have to ask and someone finds one. As I say Angels on Earth.

Sometimes people are cast as angels when they would rather not take on the role. This Christmas Eve we will watch the Princess of Wales and those she invited to take part at her annual televised Christmas carol service.

Among those lighting a candle will be Lindsey Burrow who inspired us all with her selfless commitment to her husband Rob as he battled motor neurone disease.

She never saw herself as an angel, she would never have chosen the role, but she did it with quietness and love and this year she will create Christmas for her beautiful children for the first time without her soulmate.

And then there is Katherine herself, fighting cancer yet stoically continuing her support for others and whose message of hope to all who attended the Carol Concert was simply perfect.

In it she wrote of the need to live with an ‘ open heart ‘ and offer comfort through ‘ gentle words or a receptive ear, an arm around an exhausted shoulder or silently being by someone’s side.’ And we all know someone who does that. Angels everyone. And God bless them all.

This Christmas there will be thousands upon thousands of people who spare a thought and give of themselves and their valuable time to help others.

It may be to call in on someone who is lonely, someone who is ill, a stranger or a friend. It may be to answer the call from a food bank by popping in a tin at the local supermarket, or buying a toy for a child who has nothing. Or it may be just putting a smile on someone’s face when they feel they have nothing to smile about.

But know this, they are each and everyone of them the total embodiment of the Christmas story.

So yes there are angels, still being sent to someone in their hour of need. And I believe in them absolutely. As I believe that the story of Christmas is not a story of the past but a story for the present and that there are people sent to help others in their darkest of hours.

So my message to Margot was and will always be it’s not a bad thing to be an angel. They may not have wings, or float down on a cloud. And you may have to look hard to find one when you may most need one. But they are there.

Happy Christmas to you all dear readers. If you need an angel may you find yours.