A SERIES of advent soup lunches organised for Christian Aid raised more than £650.
Organisers were delighted by the response of supporters, with more people coming along to the lunches, at Barnard Castle Parish Hall, than in previous years.
Three lunches had been organised by churches in the town – St Mary’s RC, St Mary’s Parish Church and Barnard Castle Methodist.
Lending his support at the last of the lunches was dale MP Sam Rushworth, who said Christian Aid was a cause close to his heart.
“When I was a child, I used to go with my mum dropping off envelopes in the village where we lived.
“That experience of delivering and collecting the Christian Aid envelopes as a child was how I became aware of global poverty.”
Prior to his election as Bishop Auckland’s MP, Mr Rushworth spent time working in overseas development and in October became a member of parliament’s international development committee.
Christian Aid celebrates its 80th anniversary next year and local organiser Alan Coustick said the organisation’s work was as important in 2025 as it was when it began.
“We have recently had COP29 and climate change is the biggest issue facing us,” he said.
“We are seeing poorer countries impacted more than we are and what we are contributing as a nation is quite vital. We must not lose sight of the bigger picture.”
In all, the three lunches raised £662.95.
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
