As Christmas approached, I started to think about how Christmas changes as we get older so typed 'Christmas and ageing' into Google. I was bombarded with results about loneliness and isolation and how Christmas can exacerbate these very real problems.

It's true that a lot of older people do say that their feelings of loneliness increase during the holidays, which is why campaigns from charities such as Age UK encouraging us to look out for elderly neighbours and helplines like Esther Rantzen's Silverline are so important.

Whilst I appreciate that Christmas can be a very difficult time, I would like to offer a different perspective. If you're not completely looking forward to this Christmas, I hope to help you to see the silver lining in this festive cloud. Could it be that Christmas actually gets better as you get older? I think so.

So here are five ways that Christmas improves with age.