I’m sorry that I got no pictures of the Soldiers homecoming parade yesterday. I have my excuses, but more importantly the BBC got a picture. As did the printed Abingdon Herald.
There is more than one way of being a hero….
Nan Draper, who I know from Trinity, (in red) will be meeting Prince Charles tomorrow (Thursday) for a celebration of Diamond Champions. On retiring from nursing in 1989 she got involved in lots of community and voluntary activities. What I remember best, was her running all the catering at Trinity from 1990-2010. I read in the Trinity Triangle (our church mag) she also got involved in so much else. Hence the award. You can also see her on the WRVS website with lots of other Diamond Champions.
Margaret, a volunteer host, sent me an email and a picture of herself with Jing Jing in 2010. She has a plea “‘Are you spending Christmas at home this year? Could you share it with a Chinese (or other) student at a UK university? HOST has been linking international students with volunteer hosts for Christmas for many years, and is urgently looking for more invitations due to an unprecedented number of students hoping to spend a few days with friendly people, rather than on a deserted university campus. Please see www.hostuk.org and ask to be put in touch with the local organiser. THANK YOU!'”
I would highly recommend doing this. Not only is it a great service to others, but you never know where it may lead you. I remember that 36 years ago, when I was a teenager, my family hosted a Hungarian student (through a scheme similar to this one) for a couple of days over Christmas, and it was partly as a result of this that I ended up going to live in Hungary, and stayed for 13 years! A great family bond built up between Gyorgy’s family and mine. A truly enriching experience.