Judging by this table, the theme was food, glorious food. (0601177)

THERE seems to be something about Sark that makes people want to part with huge amounts of money.

I have marvelled since I arrived here about the generosity of this island’s residents at the weekend they – admittedly outnumbered by some well-heeled guests – managed to raise an astonishing £100,000 towards those young people who are helped by the Lord’s Taverners.

To produce that amount on the back of a fun game of cricket is an extraordinary achievement and those involved – from visiting celebrities to Brian Mercer (who, rain or shine, prepares the Millennium Field for these events) – really should be thanked and congratulated.

It seems a pity that some of those who ordinarily never miss this charity weekend chose not to attend this year. I can only assume that their absence had something to do with the event being sponsored by a Barclay family company. One wonders if they will attend next year if, as it is rumoured, the Taverners’ 12th man (Prince Philip) decides to come over. An interesting thought.

If he does, he will be hard-pressed to have as much fun as the scores of children who attended the Picnic in the Park Friday evening. Food and face painting, bouncy castles and clowns were all there in abundance and after having spent an hour watching youngsters doing simply as they pleased – but, I stress, sensibly so – I walked home rueing the fact that such opportunities didn’t seem to be part of life when I was a child.

The picnic was held in a marquee in that area which approximates to a village green on the right hand side of The Avenue as one walks towards the Post Office. Without putting too fine a point on it, a year ago this was a dump. Since then, part of it has been turfed, while further north – where the marquee was placed – another section has been seeded and will soon be used by children for ball games.

All that, and more, was explained earlier this week when many island residents gathered in the marquee to hear a progress report from Brecqhou’s man in Sark, Kevin Delaney, about the Barclay family’s development programme.

It is almost exactly a year since he arrived here and I have to say that it’s a pity such a briefing wasn’t held sooner. Had that been the case then perhaps some of the nastiness of the past 12 months or so might have been avoided. There were several artist’s impressions on view and it was probably those relating to La Moinerie Hotel and Restaurant which attracted the most attention and, by and large, some extremely favourable comments.

Some of the more interesting things said by Mr Delaney related to the possibility of a small cinema at the Polygon Restaurant (near the Bel Air at the top of Harbour Hill) and the development programme for the Aval du Creux which, he said, will make it one of the finest hotels in the Channel Islands. However, he did stress that there was no rush – ‘we are here for the rest of our lives’ – and indicated that he would welcome comments and discussion. That was a point taken up by General Purposes and Advisory president Roger Olsen, who told me later that he was encouraged by Mr Delaney’s comments. ‘Let’s move forward and focus on the common ground,’ said Deputy Olsen.

The email address for comment is fallesark@sark.net