Tumaini Fund event offers Christmas respite
SHOPPERS found a place to take a break and enjoy a hot drink and a cake while listening to music on Saturday afternoon, when the Town Church once again played host to the Tumaini Fund.
The fundraising group offered home-made cakes and sandwiches for a small donation while also selling some of its most popular wares.
‘We’ve had something here every year during the Christmas tree festival,’ said charity founder Dr Susan Wilson. ‘We’re very grateful they include us in it.’
Among the items on sale were Stars of Hope, which Dr Wilson said were made by widows in the Kagera region of Tanzania.
‘These people are the poorest of the poor,’ she said.
The decorations were first made by a widow who got scrap cloth from a tailor and sewed them onto to a cardboard template.
Each one takes three-and-a-half days to make, and since they went on sale they have proved so popular that other widows in the same area have started making them too.
‘The money helps them look after their children and get them off to school,’ said Dr Wilson.
As well as the chance to buy a last-minute Christmas gift and enjoy a drink and a bite, shoppers looking for some respite from the buzz of Town were able to relax to some suitably festive music provided by organist and pianist Francois Cloete and soprano Jemimah Paine.
Among those enjoying the event were sisters Tallulah and Kiriana Hutchison, aged 7 and 10 respectively, although Tallulah was having some issues with the church’s acoustics: ‘I’m enjoying the singing but I can’t hear it very well,’ she said.
But the mince pie had clearly gone down well during her visit to the church, which dad Matt said they had arranged specifically to hear the musical offering.
Tallulah said she was looking forward to Christmas and was hoping for a Baby Alexander from Father Christmas, while big sister Kiriana said a ‘giant squishy’ was top of her Christmas list.
