In a busy few days, the Saundersfoot and District committee of Macmillan Cancer Relief was involved in two fund-raising events: a Festive Gathering with a Welsh theme in Tenby where £371 was raised, and at the St. Nicholas Christmas Market in Saundersfoot where £554 was added.
The Festive Gathering at Church House was a delightful evening with food supplied by the committee, mulled wine and entertainment.
Harpist Jean Williams, of Nantgaredig, gave a most enjoyable recital which was complemented by a question and answer session about the harp. The pertinent questions showed serious interest in the subject.
Jean Williams's recital was followed by Tenby's favourite double act, Pauline Allen and Laurie Dale, reading Dylan Thomas's 'A Child's Christmas in Wales'. With their sympathy, humour and perfect timing, they vividly brought to life a long-gone era when children delighted in very simple pleasures and pranks.
Chairman of the Saundersfoot and District committee, Cynthia Scourfield Lewis, thanked the performers who had given their time and considerable talents for the cause. She went on to explain that the Saundersfoot and District committee of Macmillan takes in the area from Penally to Llanteg and so Tenby is very much part of its area of operation.
She then described the various areas of work undertaken by Macmillan. The charity provides not only Macmillan nurses. It also funds other specialist nurses and doctors, buildings for cancer treatment and care, information units, and grants for patients in need.
It was moving that, after her talk, a member of the audience approached the committee to say that her son, a cancer sufferer in London, had recently received a Macmillan grant which had enabled him to extend his convalescence from the one week that he could afford, into a very valuable second week.
Meanwhile, a sub-committee had been busy making preparations for the St. Nicholas Christmas Market in Saundersfoot. This was a happy and busy occasion in the fine weather of the opening, Friday night, but was less so in the rain on Saturday. The weather forecast forced the market's cancellation on Sunday, so the committee, along with their counterparts from other charities, had the frustration of packing up early.
The lucky winner of Jill George's Christmas cake was Isabel Merriman, of Reynalton.
The committee thanks everyone for their support at these events and adds that if anyone would like to take a dip for Macmillan Cancer Relief in Saundersfoot's New Year's Day Swim they will be able to collect a sponsorship form from the Mermaid Restaurant.