I see today that a van has taken away the last of the stock from the YMCA shop in Abingdon. They had to vacate by the end of the month as their old premises is getting knocked down in the cause of progress.
Visit the YMCA website to find where there are YMCA shops still “Helping Young people build a future.”
Most years the annual Christian Aid walk clashes with the Boundary Walk (see yesterday’s article), but not this year. A lot of the Christian Aid participants were presumably in church on New Year’s Day and so the walk was put back to Bank Holiday Monday.
The walk started at St Michael’s Church at 10 am. Route leaflets with maps cost £1. So that money, together with donations, and sponsorship helped raise funds for Christian Aid.
The route headed from St Michael’s through Albert Park, and then through some residential areas before hitting a country path that led over Lodge Hill to Radley College.
Here are two walkers passing near the famous Radley Oak, a tree of unknown age but said to have been rejected by ship builders during the Napoleonic Wars because it was misshapen. In the centre of this picture is a man often seen in the Oxfam Shop. He was one of the founding members of Oxfam, Abingdon over 40 years ago and still does the accounts, and helps in the shop.
The walkers stopped for a coffee break at Radley Church Hall then returned to Abingdon via Radley Lakes and along the sustrans cycle path. Bank Holiday Monday is likely to be the sunniest day of the week, and there were lots of other people out walking, cycling and running. The sustrans Route 5 cycle path was the busiest I have seen it. Cycles could not move for walkers at times.
Not a good time of year to be sleeping out. I saw this tent near the river a couple of days back. Sleeping rough is not so obviously an issue here in Abingdon as in a city like Oxford but it happens. We are all made aware of homelessness at Christmas. But still a long way to go until warmer days.
Thanks to Jan of the Literary Teapot Blog for this report …
As well as trees from groups such as the Scouts, Guides and Messy Church, there were trees from Abingdon Carbon Cutters, Abingdon Writers, Frend the jewellers (not real jewels, unfortunately) and Rosie’s tea shop (decorated with salt dough teapots!) There was also a prayer tree where people wrote on cards the names of people they would like the church to pray for.
All this support was very welcome and the result was wonderful: we raised over £500 for Oxford Homeless Pathways, and John Lewis High Wycombe generously added another £100.