Dear Members and Friends

Light and hope are the common themes linking many cultural and most major religious festivals. The Christmas story is another example centred around the birth of a child whose purpose was to bring light, illumination and hope into the lives of humankind. It was the power of light – in the form of a bright star – which led and illuminated the way so the shepherds and three wise men could pay their respects to the child.

Our world needs more light, more illumination to lead its way to greater understanding. It needs more responsible and selfless leadership from each one of us and from the leaders of every business and country. Humankind needs more hope and more collaboration to respond to climate change, to increase common spaces, mutual respect, human dignity and unity. Each one of us can play our part in all our daily interactions in person and online by rejecting division, hate speech and by behaving better to one another. This Christmas, we encourage everyone to embrace the light whether you celebrate the festival or not.

The SICC team warmly wishes everyone happy holidays, good health and to all those who celebrate Christmas a merry celebration and thoughtful reflections on the Christmas story.

Yours faithfully
Victor Mills
Chief Executive