Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, but for an ever larger number of our fellow Mackems, it's also a time of stress, a time of worry, and a time of empty bellies.

It should be a time of hope, but for many people now it's a time of fear. It should be a time of joy, but instead, it's a time of sorrow. It should be a time of feast, but instead, it's a time - for some - of famine.

At times like these, looking after one another is more important than ever, and so we are once again asking you for your help to support those who work to keep people fed and warm in our community through the Sunderland Community Soup Kitchen.

The need for this wonderful charity gets bigger and bigger all the time, and yet the money that the ordinary folk of our city have to spare gets smaller and smaller.

So today we are launching our annual Christmas appeal and once again asking for the help of our football community.