Voices is the Dorset Echo's weekly youth page - written for young people by young people.

Today James Sullivan questions why so many children in Dorset are without a home this Christmas

Did you know that, according to charity Shelter, more than 600 children will wake up without a home this Christmas in Dorset? 

This is a devastating fact and I believe that it is too many children. 

According to Dorset County Council, there are approximately 49,781 children in Dorset aged between zero and 15 and about five in 76 of them will wake up without a home this Christmas. 

This is far too many – and in this day and age I think there should be none or a very miniscule amount. 

Christmas is an excitable time of year its purpose is to spread love and joy - isn’t it? 

Like me, many other people, think Christmas is the most enjoyable time of the year. I think it is unimaginable to not have a home for Christmas. 

Not only will these children miss out on the pleasures of decorating the tree, having a nice, filling Christmas dinner and all of the other highlights that will come with Christmas, it is the coldest time of year and this year it will be a very cold winter. 

It will be horrible if you have to live on the freezing streets – there is no joy in that and I thought that is what Christmas is about. Something must be done to protect vulnerable children so they don't miss out on the joy of Christmas.

James Sullivan