Christmas is a time when many of us head for home, or try to get our family and friends as close by as possible.

That, of course, is not an option for the men and women of our armed forces who find themselves protecting British interests in far-flung corners of the world, or keeping the peace in hot-spots and war zones.

Whatever your politics and your feelings about the war in Iraq, there must be room in your heart to spare a thought for the soldiers and support staff profiled in our pages today who will be spending the festive season in the Middle East.

It must be easy to feel forgotten when most of the Western world is celebrating Christmas as you are thousands of miles from home.

But there are those in Bradford who make it their annual mission to ensure our boys and girls on the front lines still get some measure of Christmas cheer.

Almost 1,000 hampers of festive goodies will be winging their way to Iraq from Bingley to boost morale among the troops stationed there at the moment.

Christmas cakes, selection boxes, Santa hats, books, cheese and biscuits and even those old festive stocking-filler favourites, a pair of socks, will all be included.

We are sure the gifts will be appreciated by all those who receive them.

And it is to be hoped that everyone who is doing their duty in the Middle East - indeed, all our troops wherever in the world they find themselves this Yuletide - have as peaceful and safe a Christmas as they possibly can.