Smile and the Hickling Ladies Group

Hickling Village Hall, near Great Yarmouth,  was the venue for a presentation of the work of 'Smile' by David and Isabel Minister recently. It covered three main aspects of the work of this Christian charity, firstly looking at the nature of very real, needy poverty in areas of our world today - a film was shown of dire living conditions in Kosovo

The shoebox appeal was then covered, looking at how these can make a real difference to the lives of individual children, many of whom have never received a gift in their lives before. Members of Hickling Ladies Group themselves came up with what to include in the boxes for boys and girls of different ages. The sheer delight that these simple gifts can bring was clearly demonstrated in a short film that followed

'Smile' is also working alongside an African school working in the most deprived conditions, with no running water, a hole in the ground for toilets, five or six battered old books for classes of 50 in classrooms whose dilapidated conditions were clearly shown in a short film. 'Smile' is raising awareness of this particular school and supporting it in whatever way possible

The evening was rounded off with a generous donation of £80 for the charity, thanks to Pam Watton and all the smiling Hickling Ladies Group!

David Minister is available for talks on the work of 'Smile' and the shoebox appeal, he can be contacted on 01493 733153

Further details of 'Smile' can be found on www.smileinternational.org