Mark Murphy: An Ipswich Christmas isn't what it used to be

This cold snap has confirmed that winter has arrived with icy pavements and some snow flurries adding to the seasonal feel.

It was absolutely freezing at Portman Road earlier this week as I was doing my PA duties for the match against Millwall, and I think it’s going to be even chillier for the game against Coventry City today (Saturday December 2).

I’m lucky I’ve got a big warm coat plus base layers to keep me toasty and a cosy house to go home to but not everyone is that privileged.

Mark says we should step in to help the homeless

I now work in central Ipswich, and I often wander in to grab a coffee or sandwich. But behind the sparkly Christmas lights, what I see breaks my heart.

I’m not having a go at Ipswich - far from it in fact.

Yes, it has its challenges but no more so than equivalent towns of its size.

What I see is the council, businesses, groups, and charities trying hard to improve things for people in these challenging times.

What I also see is people rough sleeping in shop doorways.

I’m not judging because there but for the grace of God go you and I.

Help and support is there for these people who are often living chaotic lives and rather than moan about them, which I often see on social media, help them by supporting homeless charities.

We ought to all be looking at the root courses of homelessness which should not be a thing in this day and age.

I sometimes feel we’re going back in time the way so many people are forced to lead their lives.  

Sadly though, like lots of other places, Ipswich town centre isn’t a patch on what it used to be either.

Yes, we’ve got some brilliant independent shops but except for Marks and Spencer we’ve lost the big retailers.

This is not just an Ipswich thing - it’s happening all over the country.

We must accept it's our changing shopping habits that have forced the big boys to close or relocate to out of town sites.

It's so easy now to sit at home and click on a mouse for things and less than 24 hours later it can be on your doorstep but where’s the fun in that?

I used to love this time of year; going into town with all the lovely shops and Christmas lights everywhere.

The smell of roasted chestnuts would fill the air.

Mark misses our old big stores (Image: Archant)

We had so many big stores to choose from: BHS, Debenhams, the giant Coop store. All gone and now empty.

They’ll never come back now but it got you in the Christmas mood going into these shops with so much to choose from.

For kids it was magical, especially the toy department in the Coop with the most amazing Father Christmas and grotto.

Lots of the magic of Christmas seems to have faded away.

Remember visiting Santa? (Image: Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash)

So, this December, before you click on that mouse, why not pop out to our great independent stores across our patch and support them?

This is the time of year they can hopefully get the tills ringing. They’ll appreciate it so much.

Oh, and if you see someone sleeping rough, don’t ignore the issue, do something about it and support our homeless charities.

It’s bad enough being homeless any time of the year but in these freezing temperatures when everyone they look at seems to enjoying themselves, show some compassion and support the charities that support them.

I know I do.