St Mary with St Alban

British 10K London Run for Welcare

Six runners from our church took part in the British 10K London run on 11 July, raising money for Welcare. The team was fortunate to have Sharon Graffie from Welcare with us for her first fundraising event. After three weeks of blazing sunshine, it was good to have a bit of cloud and rain for the run. The event, now in its tenth year, is very popular, with over 25,000 runners. Every sort of charity was represented by the runners. These included men in tutus, Batman and soldiers carrying rucksacks, but we played safe with Welcare T shirts printed by Lesley Alexander. The team needed to thread its way through the throng the whole way round the course, which ran from Hyde Park Corner to the City and back to Westminster and we all finished within the hour. The atmosphere was carnival-like, with crowds of supporters and music pumping out from motivating DJs. There was even a ride-past from a mounted band of the Household Cavalry. It was a day to remember and I hope an even bigger team from St Mary?s does it again in 2011. As we go to print it looks as though the team – Claire Bowie, Mark Hallett, Jo Moffatt, Olly Morrison, Clare Nunes and Hugo Studholme – has met its target of raising £2,000 for Welcare. Many thanks for your support.

Hugo Studholme

Strawberry Tea

The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra performs once a year on a midsummer evening in a vast open air arena in the forest on the outskirts of Berlin – the so-called Waldbühne. As with our own Last Night of the Proms, the conductor – Sir Simon Rattle – ends the concert with a short speech. He asks the huge audience what they would like to hear as the final piece of music. Everyone present knows the form and the response is immediate, loud and (strangely) in English: “The same as last year, the same as every year”. So the orchestra plays the waltz Berliner Luft, tradition is upheld and everyone is happy. Well, closer to home, our annual Strawberry Tea was “the same as last year, the same as every year”; old friends and new friends meeting in Margaret Squire?s delicious garden, under warm sun and served with a variety of tempting home-made sandwiches, cakes, biscuits and English strawberries and cream. It was a happy afternoon and the hard work in the kitchen was much appreciated – thank you – with the bonus that this year?s sale table raised £190 for Welcare.

Susan Jacobs

If anyone would like to sponsor the team from St Mary's please click here