THE charity lunch was another stunning achievement of volunteer effort, with people cooking, setting up, selling raffle tickets, serving at tables, washing up and numerous other activities.

The chosen charity this year was the Great North Air Ambulance and a stunning £4,600 was raised, which once again was up on last year.

THE ‘Let’s Get Cooking’ volunteers at the school held their ‘Big Brekkie’ on the same day as the charity lunch and raised a fantastic £127 for Christian Aid. The menu included sausages, sandwiches and a variety of egg dishes. I wonder if anyone went to both? They would have been well-fed.

THE Race for Life, a few weeks ago, raised more than £1400, which is a great contribution to cancer research.

ON Saturday, there will be a teddy bears’ picnic at St Michael’s Church between 2pm and 4pm. The picnic will conclude with a short service to offer a blessing for your teddy bear in church.

I’M not always a fan of memorial benches, but I think the one in memory of Grant Hutton, which appeared on the green recently, is really beautiful.

THE cricket team had an excellent win against Allendale last Saturday, with a century for Greg McConnell. This weekend, they will be playing away at Hexham Leazes and the match ball sponsor will be Coulson Construction.

FINALLY, if you haven’t yet decided what to do for the Wark and Stonehaugh Scarecrow Trail, it’s high time you get your thinking caps on.

The event takes place on the weekend of June 17-19, with scarecrows needing to be in place by Thursday, June 15.

However, to be able to get the maps done, Laureen will need to get confirmation about where yours is going to be no later than Thursday, June 9.

You can contact her on (01434) 230858. All proceeds from the event go to support the village’s senior citizens’ meal.