Wednesday, December 1, was one of those glorious winter mornings when everywhere glistens with a covering of hoar frost, and there is a real chill in the air which is invigorating enough to know you're alive, but sends you hurrying into warmer conditions. So, on this morning, that is exactly what people did. It was the Christmas coffee morning organised by the Carew and Cresswell Quay local branch for Cancer Research and the venue was the YFC Hall, Cresselly.

The hall looked festive, thanks to the hard work of the committee in getting it ready for the event, and a steady stream of people, dressed in winter woolies, trooped through the doors to buy goods from the Christmas stall (which was even more laden this year with items for sale), home-made cakes and mince pies, pickles and chutneys (Christmas would not be the same without Carol Chandler's famous produce!) and to take part in the raffles.

There were some wonderful raffle prizes, thanks to all those who kindly donated them. The main raffle was the first to be dealt with and winners announced. A wine and cheese hamper was won by Marina, Brenda Harris won a box of chocolates, Janet Arthur had an orchid, perfume was won by Marjorie Davies, Maureen Griffiths won some mustards and chutneys, Joan Cole had sparkling perry, a tin of sweets went to Norman Arthur, a biscuit selection was won by Robin, Mair Davies was the winner of a mystery prize, Malcolm Richards won a writing paper set and some toiletries went to M. Brace.

On the pickles stall, the main prize was a large hamper and the lucky winner was John Evans. Further prizes were won by Speedy (vodka), Barbara Rice (Irish cream liquer), Les Jones (red wine), Chris Vrack (chocolates), Mike Fielder (shortbread biscuits) and finally Margaret James (some crackers).

During the morning, Brigadier Jenkins, their patron, spoke on behalf of Cancer Research, congratulating the group on raising the marvellous sum of £100,000 since 2001. He said that Cancer Research benefited enormously from such amounts, helping them to make inroads into understanding more about the disease and thus helping towards finding a cure for it.

A cheque was also presented to Katie Avery, area representative, for £6,000, which was the amount raised by the group this year. The total for the morning came to £1,496.30.

Perhaps the most poignant and special part of the morning was the presentation of a beautiful orchid and some garden vouchers to Mrs. Netty Williams, to pay tribute and say thank you to her for her 62 years of service to Cancer Research, only retiring this year due to ill health.

Netty was treated successfully for breast cancer at the age of 22 when she was training to be a nurse. After that she became determined to help others through raising money for Cancer Research. She started by selling Christmas cards, then joined the Pembroke branch until 2001 when the Carew and Cresswell Quay committee was formed.

She has worked tirelessly for this cause and, like so many others, has seen family and friends affected by cancer, some surviving, some not. That is why fund-raising is so important, so that research can continue.

So, Netty, thank you from everyone, you are one in a million, and thank you to all the workers and supporters on the morning and throughout the year, have a happy Christmas and hopefully a healthy New Year.