We hear a fair bit about how the kids of today are obsessed with computer games and that they don’t have any decent hobbies. A letter in the Gazette last week summed this up pretty neatly.

That’s a pretty simplistic view. There are plenty of young people out who do know how to fill their time. Vandalism and instances of graffiti may be on the increase but the vast majority of youngsters are decent, honest and respectful. Still, it does sound like the newspaper delivery system was better half a century ago. It must have been with every young person in Devizes delivering for WH Smith.

This afternoon, Mandy and I were guests of St John’s Ambulance at their Carol Service in St Mary’s. Towards the end of the service, the Lord Lieutenant gave awards to several cadets. These young people are, in my opinion, more representative of their generation than the vandals. As an aside, I met the explorer David Hempleman-Adams at the service. I could have asked him about his numerous exciting adventures or how his daughter seems to be following in his footsteps. But no. He did look slightly taken aback when I asked him if it was his brother who was involved in Box Brewery.

In the evening, we went to the Budo club and helped give out the awards to the youngsters. Richard Hopkins, Roy Chandler and the club members made us feel very welcome. There was also a demonstration by our own Olympic hopeful Tom Reed and Jason Parsons. As well as doing what I was told was the normal moves at breathtaking speed, Tom and Jason entertained the audience by enacting some in slow motion and others in reverse. And they didn’t learn to do all that by being vandals.