"Never eat more than you can lift," advised Miss Piggy but this suggestion was abandoned as members and friends made short shrift of the Harvest Supper, many had second and third helpings and casting aside worries about calories in order to fit in just one more slice of flan!

Before the bun fight commenced, Pastor Mike reminded us of the reason why Burkina Faso had been chosen as the charity for which donations were to be raised. Corrupt government officials, crop failure and drought have all contributed to making this one of the most impoverished areas in West Africa. He ended with the wonderful news that £100 had already been collected by various individual projects, i.e. Angela Evans raised £40 from a coffee morning, the Parent and Toddlers raised £15 from selling tea and toast and the Young people raised £21 by placing two pence coins on tape that snaked around the hall. He also added that an offering would be taken during the meal.

By the time the beverages were being served the singing had begun. Sonya, Tricia and Dawn accompanied the "Spiritual Aerobics". So lively was this feature with zimmer frames hurtling dangerously around that, had they seen it, Health and Safety would have insisted on a team from St. John's Ambulance being in attendance. Many really looked "Bananas for the Lord!" There was a happy friendly atmosphere in the room and in excess of £200 was collected for Burkina Faso. Even though we are all being affected in some way by the worrying economic climate today, the evening was a joyous testament to the generosity of so many people who still care about those much less fortunate than ourselves. Everyone ploughed into their wallets and purses and scattered the good seed of financial support on the land of Burkina Faso.

Once again a huge amount of gratitude and thanks must be extended to those who bought and prepared the food, prepared the room and served the meals. Without these "busy little bees" the Harvest Supper would not exist.

Obviously there was a considerable amount of cleaning up at the end of the evening. A legion of well trained bodies went at this with military precision. A few stayed to finish off the job while the service was in progress. This was when we realised that we have a potential Olympic competitor in Bethel, namely, Angela Marshall and her event is "Discus Throwing". Having no discus to hand, Angela enthusiastically showed us her ability by substituting a pristine strawberry gateaux. Unfortunately, we onlookers, and especially Gill, feel that her technique is a little loose, i.e. she seems to drop the object not fling it, and more practice is needed before 2012! (The carpet had a spring clean!)

The collection for Burkina Faso has now ended and the total amount collected was £1057.27.

A big "Thank You" to everyone who contributed to this project.

PB