Teddy Bears Picnic

Thus when drizzle sent the Mothers' Union's Teddy Bear Picnic into St Michael's Church Hall instead of into the church grounds none of the enjoyment of the event was lost.

It was just a little noisier.

The picnic was the Mothers' Union's eminently practical way of raising money for its Family Life Programme in Uganda.

The organisation is helping Ugandan families address the problems facing family life there - food and nutrition, poverty, illnesses like HIV/AIDS, building good family relationships, growing crops and vegetables, attaining good sanitation.

Each child attending Saturday afternoon's picnic was booked-in - giving both their name and the name of the teddy bear they had brought.

Saturday afternoon might have been in marked contrast to last year's first teddy bear picnic but there was no lack of activities to keep bear-owners amused.

Branch leader Zoe Smith said: "We are having a treasure hunt. The children have to find the teddy bear biscuits we have wrapped and hidden and we are going to have a bear hunt. We are going to have an inter-active one courtesy of someone who is a teacher at St Mary's School. They are going to have to crawl through grass. They are going to be sprayed with water'¦

"Then we are going to have a puppet show. Sister Zoe Todd from the Servants With Jesus will be doing that.

"She will be familiar to many of them. She runs the Little Angels puppet show which goes to many of the play groups.

"And we are going to judge the hats which the children have been making."