A village event gave a 13-year-old schoolgirl the chance to start fundraising to realise an ambition to travel to a land famed in centuries past for its head-hunting tribes.
Accompanied by mum Ashley, Martha Sant set up her stall when St Luke’s Church, Goostrey, held its annual Christmas fair in the village hall on Saturday, 29th November, (writes John Williams).
Martha, a pupil at Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School, will be joining an expedition from the school to Borneo in the summer of 2027.
But months of raising some thousands of pounds to fund the trip lie ahead before Martha joins the party of youngsters and teachers from the school on the working expedition.
This summer her brother Ted was among the party from the school, where he is a sixth-former, spent doing similar work in the bush among Kenyan communities.
Martha is looking forward to the trip and at the fair presented a table filled with items for sale – and one of her early customers took away some of the profit, winning £5 on a game of chance!
But Martha from Mill Lane, Goostrey, was unfazed as she and her mum greeted customers at the fair with a big sales smile.
Martha is looking forward to following in her brother’s footsteps on the working expedition, but she will not know her full itinerary until closer to the time she sets off on her adventure of a lifetime.
“All I know at the moment is we will be in communities doing conservation work and things like that, and we will also have the chance to visit a sanctuary where there are orangutans,” said Martha.
An overnight torrent of rain in the area failed to deter crowds attending the popular annual sale in support of St Luke’s Church, with the hall filled with stalls selling a variety of mainly handmade goods and products.
It was still raining and dismal when the two-hour sale opened its doors to an already-waiting crowd, and within minutes, some of the stalls selling homemade cakes and even bread, including Jodrell Side WI, were fast being cleared.
A team of women from the church was kept busy with a steady stream of customers escaping the rain, enjoying their hot drinks and cakes after visiting the stalls.
In one corner, Father Christmas and his lady elf could be found listening to youngsters’ wishes for the presents they hope to receive on Christmas morning.
He received a surprise himself when – shush who knew Santa was married – his daughters, Helen and Liz travelled from Buxton to support their whiskered dad!
Making his first appearance at the event, Roger Burgess from Goostrey Parish Archive had copies of his book, “Goostrey – a Tale of Two Townships”, published on Rose Day in aid of the archive for sale.
(Photo: John Williams).
