Christian Aid is moving with the times so card donations are now accepted and this has helped our Parish raise over £3,200 this year (over £150 more than 2018). Thanks to everyone for their generosity; impressively, over £1,000 was raised through the GBx device – with £662 being donated on just one day, 12 May – making it the most successful device in the country.

In addition, the Comedy and Curry Night, Mirth in May, held at St Peter and St Paul, attracted 50 people on 14 May with money raised also donated to Christian Aid.

We will try to make more progress next year (perhaps with card readers for door-to-door collectors?!) but there is one more opportunity to help Christian Aid whilst getting some exercise and exploring some of our beautiful local environment: a sponsored walk (maximum distance is 8 miles) on Saturday 28 September, starting at St Matthias Church on Richmond Hill and finishing near Kew Gardens.

They are quite happy to accept anyone if you feel deterred by the need to raise sponsorship – all they ask is for a donation of £20 per person. Let’s see if the parish can get a good team together – we normally do!