2016 was a busy and productive year for Sunbeams and Junior Church Fundraising.  Our Cake Stall in July raised £171.71 for Christian Aid, which was a great total.  The ‘pennies’ the children bring in each week for our Sunbeams and Junior Church collections raised £291.85, so a big thank you to our generous children and their parents for such an amazing total which we donate to CASPA (Children on the Autistic Spectrum Parents Association).

Our main fundraising event is of course our Cake Stall at the Christmas Fayre.  It does involve a lot of time and effort, but it is so well worth it as we raised the fantastic sum of £594.65 for CASPA.  A big thank you to everyone who supported us by baking, preserve making, buying our goodies and helping on the day.

A special mention and thank you to Janet Standford for all the delicious mini Christmas cakes she has made and decorated so beautifully for us over many years.  They have raised a considerable amount for our charities, and looked most attractive on our stall.

Another thank you to all those members of our congregation who donate jars to us; they have been enormously useful and gratefully received.  However, jars that have had savoury contents, despite being run through the dishwasher, can still sometimes be ‘tainted’ and we are unable to use them.  May we therefore respectfully request that only jars that have sweet contents be brought to church.  The Seville oranges have come in early this year and as our marmalade making is already under way, please keep them coming!

So, the total of our fundraising for CASPA amounted to a  magnificent £886.50 and together with our total for Christian Aid, Sunbeams and Junior Church raised £1058.21 in 2016, a truly fantastic total.  We can be assured that every penny will be used to benefit those who are less fortunate than we are, so thank you all very much.

Rosemary Smith