Fakenham Parish Church: Community Blog

Having been involved with Christian Aid since the start of my ministry I have seen immense enthusiasm for its work. But sadly, poverty is still with us. I am reminded of the words of Nelson Mandela to the United Nations when he said: “Like slavery, poverty is not natural. It is immoral.” But there have been so many misunderstandings by the great and powerful regarding the solutions to the problems. Bob Geldof in his enthusiasm in Live Aid thought that if the rich countries gave to the poor then all would be well. This is actually only part of the truth. Yes, we need to send aid into Burma and to China when there are disasters, but I believe that the real problems are much more complicated, and much deeper. Money sent to poor countries often just gets into the hands of the rich. Count how many African leaders have Rolls Royce cars! Christian Aid encourages us not to have sloppy thinking - linking poverty in one place with wealth in another. By making Europe poor you will not make Africa rich. Trade is the essential requirement and hopefully fair trade. So when you buy vegetables at the supermarket sent all the way from Kenya by plane, you might be surprised, or when you purchase a cotton shirt which was made in India, you might wonder whether we could produce these ourselves - but in reality trade is a good thing. The most important objective we should have is to break down world trade barriers so that many countries would then be released from poverty. We should buy goods from India, China and Africa as long as they are fairly produced. We may complain about the emergence of India, and China polluting the world, and wanting more steel, oil and food so putting up prices in our country, but the USA is still the most polluting nation in the world, using most of the world’s resources. And we in the United Kingdom are still increasing our rate of pollution in spite of every attempt to change the way we live.

Coming from a horticultural retailing family, I would suggest that we should encourage the wealth creating process of the world by trade. This has been proved by the millions of people who have emerged from poverty in Russia, China and India in the last decade who have embraced global trade. However, we should be interested in how wealth is created and how it is distributed. The answer, as Christian Aid worked out years ago, is not just to hand out money to the poor so much as to create a global economy and open up all borders to fair trade. The USA is one of the worst countries in the world in blocking free trade and in the EEC we are not much better. We have prospered in our history when trade barriers have been taken down. Isaiah prophesied good news:‘He has chosen me and sent me to bring good news to the poor.’ Isaiah 61. 1 The best good news for a poor family living in a Third World country is that what they are producing receives a fair price so that they can lift themselves out of poverty.If this means that we may pay a little more for basic items in our shops, then so be it.Adrian Bell 

Having attended a meeting of the Fakenham Air Training Corps (ATC) last night I came back overjoyed by a group of youngsters who are caring, positive about life and willing  to contribute to the community. Also, I had the joy as the Corps Chaplain of enrolling two  new members Tom and Jeff (his real name is Jefferson - sounds very posh) who took their  vows very seriously. The Corps spent time with tutors learning about the ATC, drilling in the very cold evening air, and then put up with me for 45 minutes for my ‘Padre’s Hour’.  The ATC does a wonderful job and I can guarantee that almost every cadet will soon be in further education and then into work. Did you know that the ATC is one of the UK’s largest youth organisations?

The following is taken from May’s edition of the Fakenham Beacon Magazine and reproduced here for wider access and allow people to pass on their own comments via the Blog.  Written by Mr. Geoffrey Rose.

I was born in Quaker Lane Fakenham and attended Queen Road School. By School leaving age, the Second World war had started. In such uncertain times, further education was out of the question. After a period of working, at the age of 18, I received my call up papers to serve ‘King and Country’. I had my heart set on the Royal Navy. I passed medical fitness and aptitude tests and was sent home to await developments. Imagine my disappointment to receive instructions to report to a colliery in Yorkshire. I said good bye to the open Norfolk skies and reported as instructed, to the Guildhall in Doncaster and on to lodgings. What a culture shock for a young Norfolk lad.  I could not appeal on health grounds because I had passed fit for the Navy. If I had refused to go down the mine the alternative was prison. My call up number ended with the dreaded number pulled out of Ernest Bevin’s hat.

The wages were £2.12 shillings per week out of which I paid  £1.10 shillings for lodgings, bus fares to work, union dues and sick benefit all had to be paid. We were not supplied with working clothes and there were no charity shops in those days.My station was 3,150 feet down, then a walk of just over half a mile where I spent the shift alone, my only company was my Davey lamp and the mice. On the first training day, after the initial drop, we descended by ladders a further 350 feet to the ‘mad house’ - a shallow seam no more that 18 inches high.  It was a relief not to be stationed there. In 1947 I was demobbed Army Class 60 and given a one way ticket to travel home with no gratuity, set of clothes etc. We were really written off with no acknowledgement from the Government or the public. Because we had no uniform, we were called skivers, conscientious objectors etc., Even the NAAFI refused us cups of tea.