Undaunted 72-year-old Wendy Marchant braves the snow and ice as she trundles her shopping trolley into her home at Hallgarth House in Needham Market High Street -- carrying Bibles and hymn books from the parish church for the February meeting of her popular Home Worship group, which this month attracted eight visitors despite the atrocious freezing weather. Among those who braved the weather was World War II Far-East veteran 93-year-old Cynthia Cooke. This month's topic was the work of Christian Aid.
Christian Aid worker Julian Bryant (left) and St John the Baptist Church parishioners Wendy Marchant and Roland Owen meet up for the February Home Worship meeting in Wendy's house. Wendy, seen here holding one of several Christian Aid magazines Julian brought along from his home in Norfolk, explains: "Roland is a retired teacher and his wife Alison is a retired physiotherapist and they organise the annual house- to-house Christian Aid collection in Needham Market which raises in the region of £3,000 and involves visiting 2,300 homes, 400 of which Roland and Alison call on, the rest being covered by a team of volunteer collectors." Julian spoke of his time spent in Cambodia where he found himself being cared for by local peasants when he fell victim to food poisoning. He described in detail how Christian Aid ensured how one young woman rebuilt her home and life after the catastrophic Haiti earthquake while Roland told how while in Gambia he had met the local archbishop who stressed the importance of Christian Aid because every penny is actually spent locally on helping people improve their lives.
Pictures and text supplied by Mr David Payne
