In a welcome break from the rain and gloom of recent weeks (months?), Wednesday morning, November 28, was sparkling, sunny and cold, very seasonal, and most appropriate, as it was the Christmas coffee morning arranged by the Carew and Cresswell Quay local committee for Cancer Research.

Yes, that time of year again (how does it come round so quickly? In fact, each year it seems to gallop towards Christmas before you've had a chance to recover from the last one!).

With some extra help provided to help the ladies set up the hall the afternoon before and more help on the actual morning, especially in clearing everything away at the end, everything ran smoothly. The stalls were ready for selling for the 10 am start and, as always, were laden with a wide range of goods which included cakes, fresh produce, Christmas gifts and an amazing array of homemade pickles and chutneys from a very industrious Carol Chandler. The kitchen 'staff' were kept very bush serving teas and plates of biscuits.

Two raffles were held, the main raffle and the raffle on the pickle stall.

In the main raffle, the prizes were won by Diana Philips (duo of wines), Liz Hyde, who had a shower set and some meerkat ornaments, Eliott Thomas (Bacardi), Moira George (cuddly toy), Paula Ralph (Advocat), Brenda Waters (Tesco vouchers), June Herbert (lavender toiletries), Dylis Thomas (tin of biscuits). More biscuits were won by Sylvia Watkins and finally Peggy Jenkins won a dinner set.

In the raffle held on the pickle stall, the luxury Christmas hamper was won by Lianna, Janet Cole won a bottle of whisky, Quality Street was won by Alison Folder, Mrs. George won some Victoria biscuits, David McBean won sparkling win and Audrey Knox went home with spring flowers.

Carrie Barlow, area organiser, was there during the morning to receive a cheque for £10,000, the amount raised since last Christmas by this hard working and dedicated group of people of Carew and Cresswell Quay. When one thinks of how hard life is for so many people and how little money there is to go round, it is truly remarkable that this vast sum of money has been raised in such difficult times.

The total for this event came to £1,427.17, once again a magnificent show of support, with people digging deep in their pockets to raise money for this charity.

"We cannot thank all of you enough for your generosity and support and we hope that this wonderful team effort of committee and community will continue for a long time to come," said a spokesperson. "We hope to see everyone again at next year's events, and wish you all a very happy Christmas and a healthy and peaceful New Year.