Praise for today’s volunteer groups, many whose works remain hidden from view but whose help is vital in sustaining the community, came from Marlborough’s Rector at Sunday’s civic Harvest Festival service in St Mary’s.
The Rev Canon Andrew Studdert-Kennedy brought together displays by some 20 groups and organisations for a Harvest Festival of Volunteering for what he described as a “happy and successful weekend – of Harvest with a difference.”
And in his sermon he declared: “Thanksgiving is important because it stops us taking things for granted. As someone once said, to receive a gift and not say thank you is not just rude, it’s worse — it turns a gift into a possession.
“Today we give thanks for all the voluntary work that goes on in our town, so much of it hidden from sight but all of it contributing to the flourishing of our community.
“One of the striking things about volunteering is that volunteers almost always say how rewarding their work is. Very often they say that they receive back far more than they give.
“This pattern of giving and receiving is a rich and happy one and, in my view, is almost always a sign of God at work. When I see people giving and receiving, I spy God.”
He told Marlborough’s Mayor and Mayoress, Councillor and Mrs Guy Loosmore, and accompanying councillors: “Just imagine if these groups didn’t exist – no St Peter’s Church, a neglected River Kennet, no support for people with learning difficulties, no lifts to hospitals, schools with no governors and so on.
“How impoverished we would all be. A huge Thank You to you all.”
He pointed out that Harvest Festivals are a bit like birthdays when we pay special attention to one person and in the best sense make a fuss of them.
“We celebrate how special they are,” he said. “It’s not that they are not special on all the other days of the year, it’s just that on one day we put into focus what is true of all other days, too.
“Likewise to thank God for the Harvest is, logically, to thank God for everything that makes the Harvest possible – all the work that goes on throughout the year – and so one day or weekend of harvest thanksgiving is a celebration of the whole year.”
An impressive display of stands by the various groups – St Mary’s was open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for people to see them – brought a positive response from visitors to the church.
“One of the most telling observations was to imagine the impact on Marlborough if none of the groups existed – how impoverished we would all be,” the Rector told Marlborough News Online.
Taking part in the Harvest of Volunteers were: Home Start, school governors, scout troops from St Peter’s, St. Mary’s, and Preshute local Scouts and Brownies, the Link Scheme,
the Jubilee Centre and St Peter’s church.
Also involved were Riding for the Disabled/Kennet Valley Driving Group, Greatwood, the Bruce Trust, Marlborough’s Brandt Group and The Merchant’s House.
Mencap was represented, so to Transition Marlborough,
Action River Kennet (ARK), the Marlborough branch of Cancer Research UK, Youth Action Wiltshire, the Marlborough branch of Arthritis Research UK, Marlborough and District Dyslexia Support Association and the bell ringers of Marlborough churches.
