We were pleased to welcome Hannah Grahame from the Children's Adventure Farm Trust to receive gifts from our parishioners on November 19th.
Hannah shared her story of getting involved with this charity and now works full time for the Trust as a Fundraiser.
The Children’s Adventure Farm Trust is based at the beautiful Booth Bank Farm, a 17th Century farmhouse set in the heart of the Cheshire countryside. They provide a variety of free programmes for terminally ill, disabled and disadvantaged children from all over the North West.
CAFT helps children of all abilities aged 17 and under. Children who through no fault of their own miss out on the normalities of childhood. The needs of the children visiting the Farm are complex and range from severe physical and learning disabilities, sensory impairments and terminal illnesses through to children who act as carers for a family member, to children who have already faced bereavement and children who have witnessed and been victims of abuse. For these children, a visit to CAFT provides a much needed opportunity to have fun and laughter and to simply enjoy being children.
The toy collection is St Cross Church's contribution to the Children's Adventure Farm Trust's collection of toys and gifts that will be given to children in the North-West who might otherwise not receive a gift at Christmas.
After the talk, Paul, our Vicar, summarised Hannah's excellent presentation and spoke about the Christian duty of supporting those less fortunate, using the words of the hymn 'Stand up, stand up for Jesus'.
"The love which draws us to him, he calls us out to share; he calls us to the margins to be his presence there."
pictured below is Hannah receiving the gifts at the end of the Sunday morning service, and one of our older parishioners, Barbara Hart, presenting Hannah with her knitted cardigans which will be given to families who have new born children.
