Roy and Eve Cook rake in the shekels on the ever-popular book stall at St Peter’s Church Fayre. (1009280)

THE difficulty with reporting on what some in my profession might call the hardy annuals – in Sark that’s things like the sheep racing, Professor Saint Fund cheque presentation night and the sea service at Creux Harbour, among many others – is that unless something really unusual happens, it is difficult not to be repetitive.

That, in a nutshell, is the problem I face after the first Saturday in August each year when it seems that all I can say is that, yet again, those involved in St Peter’s Church Fayre raised an awful lot of money in an incredibly short period of time.

Just for the record, the total raised was £3,631, all in the space of something approaching three hours – a quite extraordinary result and one which again illustrates the generosity of Sark residents and their guests.

This event always leaves me feeling slightly puzzled. I mean, how can money flow into buckets, boxes, discarded butter or ice cream containers and anything else the organisers and their helpers can lay their hands on at the rate of more than £1,000 an hour?

After all, the cups of tea and cakes – the latter both to eat in the vicarage garden or to take home – were probably the cheapest to be had anywhere in Sark right then and while enjoyable to watch, neither knocking a coconut off its stand nor securing a horseshoe to a peg were ever going to rake in a fortune, no matter how persuasive the stallholders – in this case Belinda and Tony Dunks and Reg Guille.

Yet year after year, June Carre will ring me the following day and tell me that, yes, another considerable sum of money has been raised and she will usually join me in trying to determine the reason – other than simple generosity. This year her suggestion was that it was so nice and peaceful in the vicarage garden that people stayed for longer.

It’s also perhaps because walking around chatting, enjoying a drink and bite to eat, looking at books, chancing a pound or two on the tombola or the bottle stall and generally relaxing is quite a nice way to spend part of an afternoon.

I suppose I’ll be berated in a crowded shop for expressing an opinion – as I was not long ago – unless, of course, the berater agrees with the opinion, in which case I might escape unscathed.

One thing that was different this year was the absence of what we all call the Guernsey dancers, which was a shame because they are always pleasant to watch. I’m told that their having to pay the full boat fare meant that they couldn’t afford to come, which was sad.

However, they are not the only ones affected in this way and it gives me the opportunity to suggest that when cash is being allocated in next year’s budget the Tourism Committee asks Chief Pleas for an additional sum to help subsidise travel costs for circumstances such as those I’ve just outlined.

I have no quarrel with Sark Shipping’s policy – it is a company which should not be running at a loss – but unless some assistance is given to things that benefit the island’s economy, the number of visiting entertainers is going to diminish very swiftly.

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Sark’s Methodist lay pastor David Hollingsworth leaves the island this month to go to Birmingham to prepare for his ordination as a minister. In the two years he has been here, David has certainly made his mark – and not only by painting a delightful mural outside Lorraine Nicolle’s pottery.

I join many other residents in wishing him all that he wishes himself and look forward to seeing him occasionally in the future.

*  The email address for comment is fallesark@sark.net.