Charity begins ... and never ceases

CHURCH and charity supporters parted with around £5,000 for their chosen good causes last Saturday.

By any stretch of the imagination this, in charity terms, is a lot of money.

But one weekend (albeit a seasonally busy one) is just a small snapshot, a vignette, of the voluntary effort put in by Bexhillians year-round.

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During the previous hectic, pre-Christmas weekend the picture had been very similar.

Throughout the build-up to Christmas from early November the pattern has been following an annual cycle which is virtually timeless.

Before the Christmas fairs were the autumn fairs. Before that, especially in the busy end-of-term period, there was the customary frantic round of school fetes for parents and public to support - plus a myriad round of summer (sic) fetes and fairs.

Winding back still further there were the Easter fetes and fairs..

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Nobody could say that Bexhill does not play its part in supporting worthy causes.

Behind the scenes at every fete, fair, coffee morning, sports day or nativity play there has been dedicated hard work by unsung heroes and heroines.

From cake-baking to knitwear-making, soft-toy making to the booking of halls and placing of publicity material, it all forms a pattern which - even allowing for the fact that many good souls are devoted not to one good cause but to several - involves a sizeable percentage of the population.

In little more than a fortnight it will all be over for another year. Committee members and officers, PTA parents and patient pensioners alike will be able to take a well-earned break over Christmas and New Year.

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But by early in 2008 the wheel will have come full circle. Plans have to be made early. Halls and playing fields have to be booked, hirers of bouncy castles and the like contacted.

Collectively, we owe these people a great deal. Without their efforts, schools, churches and charities would be in difficulty; halls would be under-used and an army of dedicated supporters would lose a valued aspect of their social life.

In today's society there is a tendency by some to sneer at so-called "do-gooders." But where would we be without them...?

Take a bow the busy bees who make Bexhill's community life hum so loudly and so effectively.

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