The past year has definitely been challenging.
With lockdowns and rising coronavirus cases it is hard to imagine that every cloud has a silver lining.
But luckily, every community has a stalwart to remind residents to keep their chin up.
In Clacton, one of these is Daisy Channy.
When her son Reilly, 11, spent Christmas in Great Ormond Street Hospital in London a couple of years ago, Daisy realised no sick child or their family should feel the anxiety of being away from home during the holidays.
So, the 31-year-old mum decided to take the reins of every child’s happiness and launched a Christmas gift appeal.
For the past seven years, Daisy has been bringing hundreds of presents (and smiles) to children in the hospital, but this year she smashed her target with 886 parcels which she personally drove around Clacton to collect.
“The collection couldn’t be done without the lovely people donating, however, I am a one-man band when it comes to collections,” Daisy laughed.
She added: “ The first year we received 85 gifts and campaigned the next year to beat the target.
“When we first started I actually drove to where I lived in London and took the tube.
“My collection has gone way past the tube station now.
“It seems to grow quite drastically and we beat our target every year.
“This time it was 600 but we absolutely smashed it out with 867 presents.”
Many businesses have also joined her campaign, with Links Karate Clacton donating 81 presents.
Being no stranger to the feeling of your child being sick, Daisy says the biggest reward is knowing you have done a good deed for someone in need.
Her son Reilly Stancombe was born with a bowel condition and was also diagnosed with floppy larynx, which causes abnormal crying and difficulty breathing.
She said: “ His first couple years of life he would spent months on and off out of hospital.
“Over the years he has had quite a lot of stays there due to surgery or tests or just check ups or admission as he has been poorly.
“From consultants, to doctors, and charity team - they all know who the girl from Clacton is who delivers the presents every year at Christmas.”
But driving up to the hospital is only one bump on the road.
Daisy would start collecting gifts from September, driving to each address in Clacton and making the campaign a three month process.
She said: “It is a challenge but you write down who you need to see and it is crazy sometimes and you think ‘I am never going to get trough those people?’.
“But by the end of the collection date you have met everyone one way or another.
“It is organised chaos.
Daisy, who is originally from London, has managed to fit in her charity job between her full-time job as a mum-of-three and coaching football.
And next year, she is hoping to reach the magic target of collecting 1,000 presents for the children.
Daisy added: “It is a lot of time and effort but I really enjoy going down and delivering the presents.
“I love driving home from London knowing we have delivered so many presents from a small town such as Clacton.
“I know what its like to have poorly children and I am quite lucky mine were at home this Christmas.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here