Brilliant Bangor!

I stood up to face 350 children (all year 6) from 19 church schools plus their teachers during a celebration service in Bangor Cathedral. Of course most of the service was in Welsh, but I still enjoyed every minute of it.

The children were leaving their present schools and had just completed several weeks of fund-raising for Send a Cow. Can you imagine my shock and delight when they rolled out a cheque for £3,500! The money had been raised in many different ways including non uniform days, sporting events, cake and biscuit making that were sold to raise funds, plus many more successful ideas. Not to be outdone by the Welsh language, I gave a hearty thank you in the Shona language which is the main language used in Zimbabwi - I lived there for four years!

The man behind it all was the Rev Rob Townsend who leads the diocesan education department at Bangor Cathedral and is a great supporter. The reasons given for the selection of Send a Cow for this fund-raising effort included:

• Church connected charity
• Rural areas like the agricultural approach
• Our name - it makes all churches and schools smile and they "get it" quickly
• Our work is brilliant (mentioned last!)

I thank God for this wonderful support which came from the children, their families and friends as well as the teachers and other people in the communities where the fundraising took place.