THE coldest temperature I’ve ever experienced is -23°C. I was in Kazakhstan teaching education students. I was well prepared, thick gloves, fur hat looking very ‘Russian’ as one of my students commented. Until you experience that type of cold, you can’t really explain it well, the effect it has on your exposed skin. Water froze almost instantly outside. The human body, over two thirds water, is very susceptible to the cold. It doesn’t have to be -23°C for people to suffer from hypothermia, for their extremities to freeze and for them to die.

Hypothermia happens with an extended loss of body heat. If your core body temperature drops below 35°C for a prolonged period, hypothermia sets in. Normal body temperature is, on average, 37°C. A two-degree drop is not a lot. Some of the symptoms of hypothermia are slurred speech and lethargy which could be confused for being drunk. It’s common for people with hypothermia to lie down in the cold, fall asleep and simply die.

Each year we get tragic instances of young people going for a night out dying from hypothermia as they return home in the early hours without proper clothing. The same happens to the homeless or people sleeping rough. Young or old, rich or poor, hypothermia isn’t choosy. You may not be safe even in your own home. Every year, some elderly poor who can’t afford heating will suffer from hypothermia.

As a rich nation – and compared to many nations across the world we are rich – the fact we have homeless people, people who can’t afford to heat their homes or simply feed themselves and their family should be a source of national shame.

Do I give to homeless charities? Yes. Do I give enough? I don’t know – how much is enough? How do I decide on what charities to support? Help the aged? The Samaritans, homeless charities? Overseas aid for earthquake survivors or those affected by the recent hurricanes? The list of possible good causes is endless. As much as I’d like, I cannot give to all of them.

Collectively, as a nation, we do support many charities. Our government gives overseas aid and that, for some, is an issue. We should look after our own first, they cry. Yes and no. Yes, we should look after our own, but we should also be in a position to help others. Overseas aid can help to reduce migration, it can help countries rebuild after natural disasters.

How we all give (or don’t) to charities will be a very personal decision. This year in our education and social work department, at the University of Sussex, as we have done for a few years now, we are not exchanging Christmas cards. We write messages and donate, sometimes cash, but this year non-perishable food, to local charities.

The real problem we have, however, is not charity giving. It’s the fact that in a country such as ours we have such problems at all. We have working people, including teachers and nurses, forced to use foodbanks. We have a significant number of working poor still classified as in need despite having a job. There is a chronic lack of social housing.

It’s been reported that up to 400,000 children could be living in poverty by 2021 if the Government pursues its proposed changes to benefits. Nobody chooses poverty as a lifestyle, except perhaps those whose devotion to a religion requires it. Even then, they will be fed, housed and their essential needs met. When ministers read such research (or more likely read a summary prepared by a civil servant) I wonder how they deal with the consequences of their actions. The report, from the Institute for Fiscal Studies also states that 7.5 million low income households will see their benefit entitlements cut by over £500 per year in real terms as a result of the freeze to most working-age benefits. Perversely, the Government will see this as a success in cutting the benefits bill. Remember, these are not the feckless lazy benefit scroungers we are all conditioned to loathe, these are working households. Perhaps ministers see £500 as a ‘trivial sum’. To many it’s the choice between heating or eating.

Children have no control over the circumstances they find themselves in. They may be born into poverty or be led into it through bad choices made by their parents, or circumstances thrust upon their family.

They can find themselves as unwilling passengers on a sleigh ride to hell when things go wrong.

While I am not a religious person, Christmas for me is a time for reflection, a time to think about others. All year round we should be vigilant and compassionate, but during winter, when people are very susceptible to cold snaps in the weather, we must be extra vigilant.