All the Fun of the Fête

All the fun of the fête is coming to Salisbury Cathedral Close as the annual Bishop’s Summer Fête for the Sudan Medical Link returns on Sunday 19 June, at South Canonry, the Bishop’s house at number 71, from 1-5 pm.

This classic, quaint, English summer fête provides fun for all the family and raises money for healthcare in two of the world’s poorest countries.

Entertainment includes everything from a brass band to live camels, country dancing to the Cathedral’s Junior Choir. All the usual fête stalls and games will be there. This is a rare chance to see the beautiful South Canonry gardens. And when people have exhausted themselves from all that, they can take a ride in a vintage car before flopping down for tea and cake by the river.

In recent years, the fête has raised more than £10,000 for the Salisbury-Sudan Medical Link, which supports healthcare in Sudan and South Sudan, two of the world’s poorest countries.

Firstly, the Medical Link supplies basic medicines and clinical equipment direct, from bandages and disinfectant to anti-malarial drugs. Secondly, it trains local people as medical workers, including training midwives in South Sudan. In that East African nation, one woman in seven dies in childbirth, more than anywhere else on the planet. Every trained midwife will save scores of lives throughout her career.

The Medical Link was set up 34 years ago when the then Bishop of Salisbury, John Baker, and his wife Gill were on a visit to South Sudan and saw war victims being treated with even basic medicines absent. Since then, many local people have built up special friendships with people in the Sudans.

Is it possible to have fun and do good at the same time? It is at this lovely summer fête.

Have a look at a gallery of photos from the 2015 fête here.

Not sure where South Canonry is? Here’s a link on Google Maps.