It is 125 years since the Children’s Society was founded by Edward Rudolf so it is very fitting that the final total raised for the year ending April 2006 is a record for us, a matter of £604. This sum comes from the Christingle service, the annual opening of boxes and several donations. Many, many thanks for your support.
The Society works with England’s most disadvantaged children just as it did 125 years ago. Did you know? Britain locks up more children than almost any other country in Europe. The Society’s goal is to overhaul the criminal justice system to ensure the first response is to see not a criminal but a child.
Did you know? Children at risk on the streets - 15,000 under 16 are forced to leave home each year and every day around 50 children under 11 run away. The Society will meet with any young person in local authority care who has run away. The fact that the Society is independent and will listen makes a big difference.
Did you know? There are 700,000 disabled children under 18 in the UK. Disabled children are three times more likely to be abused or neglected. The Society finds ways to help these children communicate so that their views are always heard and the Society contacts the services they need.
Did you know? Two million children are killed and one million orphaned each year as a result of conflict and war. The Society's goal is to ensure the legal system recognises that children who are refugees are, first and foremost, children and should be protected by laws which safeguard children.
With your support the next 125 years will see The Children’s Society grow in size, strength, influence and reputation - leading to even greater rewards for the children we serve.
This information comes from the Society’s magazine Bright Futures. If you wish to find out more, please contact me and I will be pleased to give you a copy of the magazine.
Again many, many thanks to everyone who has give such great support this year.
Dorothy Gilbert
Telephone: 01954 205254
The grey clouds duly delivered a damp weekend for the Flower Festival at St Mary’s, Fen Drayton, on 6th and 7th May. But the dampness only prevailed outside the church, for inside everyone was touring the wonderful displays of flowers, with each display representing a musical show to reflect the theme of this year‘s event — Floral Musicals.
No fewer than 42 imaginative interpretations of 31 different musical shows had been created by village residents, featuring hits from Lupin and Lowe, Rodgers and Flowerstein and Andrew Lloyd Tuber. As ever, the challenge was to match the titles given on the quiz sheet to the number on the display, and visitors were visibly racking their brains to remember if the snake with the hypnotic eyes was from the Lion King, or was he possibly from Jungle Book...
If the range of floral musicals proved too much of a visual feast, other diversions were at hand with freshly-brewed teas and filter coffees, stalls laden with cakes, plants and home-made produce, children‘s games and an outstanding raffle. If the weather outside provoked gloom in anyone, a cycle of projected images from recent years of Fen Drayton in snow and in flood prompted us to be thankful for small mercies. But no-one seemed to need this quintessentially Anglican form of encouragement as folks from far and wide came to enjoy the festival fun.
When the doors closed behind the final visitor some time after 6:30pm on the Sunday, we realised that more people had come through the church, more quiz entries had been put into the competition jar and more funds had been raised for the church and its restoration than during our previous record-breaking Flower Festival.
A heartfelt thank you goes out to everyone, too numerous to mention individually here, who gave their valuable time, both in preparing for the Festival and on the day. We hope that each and every visitor who came through the door also found something to take from the event and enjoyed the day as much as we enjoyed welcoming them to St Mary’s. Well over £1,000 was raised from the two days which, with the further donations received before and after the event, will ensure that our church architect will go home singing in the rain.
Phil Christie
Having celebrated Easter Day with an anthem by Handel (The Glory of the Lord), ten members then visited Ely Cathedral on May 20th for the Choirs Festival with around another 350 participants. A most enjoyable occasion for all singers and a splendid organ accompaniment.
After a short anthem on Trinity Sunday we are now starting rehearsals for the summer weddings and looking at music for Harvest in early October.
Keith Lofts
The Swavesey team took part in the district striking competitions in June at St James’ in Stretham. The first competition was the called changes section and included our recent recruit, Mat Sage whose has only been ringing for nine months. The village team won this section, retaining the tankard for the fourth year. The second part was the method competition in which we rang Bob Doubles and were placed second.
Andrew Stevens