Hi everyone. I’m Matthew Porter, the Bishop of Bolton.

I’ve noticed a variety of newspaper articles recently about happiness, discovering that since 2012 the Office of National Statistics has tracked the UK’s wellbeing with surveys asking how satisfied people are with life, how happy they are and how anxious.

The most recent figures show a nation in general getting gloomier and more worried.

What’s also concerning is that the government’s unofficial ‘happiness unit’ which helps MPs, councils and businesses make decisions on what really matters for people’s wellbeing, is set for closure in 2024 due to lack of funding.

This does not bode well, unless you live in Bolton.

Despite our many imperfections, it was announced before Christmas that Bolton is ‘the happiest place to live in Greater Manchester’ with our happiness rating, unlike most parts of the UK, rising not falling – from 7.5 to 7.6 in the last year.

When this was recently announced in Bolton News, Sandie McHugh of Bolton University’s Psychology department was quoted as saying that happiness has much to do with humour, leisure and feeling secure, also adding that culture and religion are important.

Indeed they are, with surveys consistently showing that people of faith, especially followers of Jesus, are more satisfied than people of no faith commitment. Of course that doesn’t mean that becoming religious guarantees a good or easy life, but it seems that connecting with God and being part of a worshipping community is good for us.

It’s also good for our communities too, with much great work being done in our area by people of faith, through places of worship and all sorts of faith-based charities.

For example, I spent half a day before Christmas at Urban Outreach charity in their three bases in Bolton, and was incredibly inspired to see the work they’re doing with vulnerable women, missing children, rough sleepers, and through their Food Hubs, as well as leading this year’s Christmas Dinner on Jesus which provided 2,040 hampers, feeding 6,777 people in our town. Wow!

We all know Bolton could improve yet there’s so much good going on and lots to celebrate. I’m happy to live here, and I hope you are too. As we begin this new year, if you haven’t yet found your happy place or want to be even happier, why not consider joining a faith community? At the very least you’d meet some diverse and interesting people, and maybe you’d discover even more.