Happy Easter

17th April 2025

A warm welcome back from the (false) Easter break. The sun certainly did shine most of the time, especially in the UK. I know that there are some who took the opportunity to go further afield, on those cheaper flights – the rest of the country seemingly not on holiday for that period. And not all of those travellers had the weather that we’ve had in the UK.

And… Happy Easter.

There will be some of you who have are coming to the end of your period of Lent. Unlike in Islam, where the concept of fasting is very much written into the period of Ramadan, Lent is more a period of your personal and self-led reflection and self-denial. For some of you that may well have meant giving up on something that you particularly enjoy and often that is food; chocolate is mentioned quite a bit. And for some Lent is, in respect of self-denial, something else entirely (not food related); something that might be pleasurable but might be, to a degree, frivolous. All of that period of self-reflection and self-denial then comes to head and end over the Easter weekend. For our Christian friends and neighbours, it is a very holy time of year – the most religious period in the Christian calendar. There will be significantly meaningful events taking place over the whole of the Easter weekend through to Easter Sunday.

For some of us Easter is more about those chocolate Easter eggs, chocolate Easter bunnies (they seem to be very popular these days) and a few days away from work.

Whoever you are and whatever your views of, and approaches are to, Easter, I hope you enjoy yourself.

Whatever your personal approach to this period it is certainly a time of rebirth and regeneration. I touched on the weather earlier and certainly the concept of springtime feels very much in the air right now and, hopefully will continue over the Easter period. The trees are in bloom, the grass is growing and the daffodils are out. The blossom at the front of Thomas Rotherham College is truly spectacular at the moment and, if you get a chance, drive past and have a look at the wonderful display. It feels such a privilege to be able to live in such a fantastic location.

It reminds us all that winter is now over and the warmer months are ahead. For many of us that might mean more things planned, happier and sunny days, with the dark and gloom of the winter months well behind us. Many of us will have (literally) a spring in our step. Or for some of us it is our favourite time of the year. Whether it is or it isn’t, it is certainly a time that we can all enjoy and the long weekend gives us a little bit of space to take time to stop, just catch breath and reflect upon what a beautiful time of year it is.

‘Easter is meant to be a symbol of hope, renewal, and new life’. Janine di Giovanni

‘In winter, I plot and plan. In spring, I move’. Henry Rollins