I hope you will allow me, through your pages, to thank Emma and Rick, and everyone at the Sydney Arms, Dorchester for the fantastic barbeque, bake sale and raffle fundraising event which they put on last weekend (16/17 August).

The event was in support of CRESS UK, a Salisbury based organisation which provides relief and education to the people of South Sudan, one of the poorest countries in the world.

Complementing the urgent, immediate aid provided by organisations such as UNICEF and Red Cross, CRESS has been working for some five years to support the Christian Church in South Sudan to promote longer-term growth in the areas of children's education, developing agricultural skills, enhancing medical facilities and building local infrastructure. Next month a team of nine people will visit Kajo Keji province to teach at a three-day conference, as well as commissioning a flat-bed truck and delivering support to local schools and clinics.

Each of us needed to raise up to £1,000 to fund our activities in the country; the £310 raised at the Sydney, almost a third of the total, is a tremendous contri-bution.

A huge ‘thank you’ to all who helped to make it happen, who donated raffle prizes, and who bought tickets and burgers. Your generosity will mean so much to the people of Kajo Keji.

Richard Fergusson
St Mary's House
Chapel Lane
Ashbury