Fairtrade Week

A selection of items that are available to buy locally under the Fairtrade label.

New Year 2009

At Midday on New Year's Day we met up at the "Old Church" at the invitation of the "Friends of St Illtyd" to ring in the New Year.




It was a cold day so we rang the bells with great vigour to keep warm!

Afterwards we had been invited over the road, for a warming meal.

Then it was out in the cold again for a bracing 1 mile walk to Hywel & Hazel's.

We had great fun together as well as making some new friends from Northern Ireland.





Some graffiti was left on our host's car, if you recognise the perpetrator's handwriting please inform the authorities!!





On New Year's Eve, we got together in the chapel for a new year's eve party.
We played many silly party games, but it was all over by 10:30 as lots of the children(and one or two adults) needed to get to bed.

Fawlty Towers comes to Bethany

Our morning service was very dramatic, with no less than 2 dramas.
See the Salty Towers one here ..

Nativity 2008

The children did four performances of our Nativity this year.

Two in the Church... one on the 14th and the other was a "by ticket only" affair before the Pensioners' Christmas Dinner.

Below the councillors' invited guests wait for the performance to begin ..



After the Performance all were treated to a waitress service Christmas meal.

Then the Nativity took to the road as we visited two residential homes, where we were very warmly welcomed.

Crib Scene in Lights under our Cross

Our Cross has been lit up since 2000, but this Christmas we have a Crib Scene  in our window too.

Something Festive to brighten up the street

2008 Harvest Appeal

This year Bethany people wanted to provide a well for a community somewhere that didn't have safe water. We started off our Appeal hoping to raise £1500 pounds for a well from an alternative gift catalogue. We then asked our contact Ron Prosser of Health Help International, if they had any well or water projects that needed help at the moment.

On on the second Sunday of October Ron came and gave us a slide show about HHI's work in India. See more details at http://www.hhi.org.uk/ and http://www.christian-greetings-cards.co.uk

Village people have to buy water from a truck at the moment

Each new well will improve the life of everyone who live in a little group of houses dramatically

Many houses are also in desperate need of new Roofs

In his presentation Ron told us he has a worker in a very poor Indian village, where the people really need help to renovate wells, homes and toilets. He sent us an email he got from the worker last November, an extract below..

I wonder if God might in 2008 visit his faithful people in a concrete way. He needs our hands and feet. Through the HHI Alternative Gift Scheme. We estimate so 50 toilet/bathrooms are needed. The cost of a toilet/bathroom is 100 pounds.

a toilet ---------------- 50 pounds
a bathroom -------------- 50 pounds
a well ----------------- 150 pounds
a tin roof ------------- 150 pounds
pipe structure for roof - 60 pounds
tin sheets for roof ----- 70 pounds
labour for roof --------- 20 pounds
5 sheets ---------------- 10 pounds
10 sheets --------------- 20 pounds

After talking about it at Coffee morning and at a Church meeting we felt we should support these people.

We raised nearly £200 at our Harvest supper, which followed a short harvest thanks service at which the children performed a musical sketch which highlighted how many different people we rely on for out food supply. Thanks to all that came along to support and gave so generously.

Good food and good company are enjoyed by all at the Harvest Supper

The children perform their musical sketch, before we went into the school room for our supper.

The money raised at the harvest supper was added to a special Sunday collection and other donation we received to make a grand total of £2700 which was handed over to Ron at Health Help International

PS Thanks also to the person who gave one of our regulars £20 in the street, we will make sure that gets to southern India too.

Six Bells T&R Fete 12th July 2008

The free Children's colouring and jewelry making were a great hit, on the church stand.
And Bethany people could also be found helping out all over the field, including the refreshments stand, the T&R committee, the Moose stall and the Hospice of the Valley's stall