Christian Aid Week is from 12th – 18th May, and this morning on Abingdon Market Place there was a Christian Aid stall.

They were selling plants, bric-a-brac and books, and had a petition. I believe Christian Aid is one of the last charities to continue – the once common – door to door charity collections. It is a brave thing to do and is for a good cause.

This year’s appeal is to save the life of mums. Christian Aid are looking to build better health centres in Sierra Leone, where mums can deliver their babies safely. The petition asked our Chancellor to push the IMF to drop Sierra Leone’s debt. The country lacks funds for proper health clinics, health training and enough ambulances. This makes it the most dangerous place in the world to become a mum.

Every February 14th the Abingdon British Heart Foundation (BHF) shop fills its window with red hearts. Each for a small donation.

A lot of them are love notes but some of them are about beating heart disease. BHF are looking to mend broken hearts this Valentine’s Day through research such as stem cell heart ‘patches’.

There are also things to stop you heart getting broken in the first place such as not smoking, keeping to a healthy weight, and keep your blood pressure down.

Oxfam opened their first Abingdon shop in the High Street in 1969. They have been in their current Stert Street shop for over thirty years, after moving from over the road. They would be glad to hear from anybody who has volunteered at any of the three shops to arrange a reunion.