Less than a week after explaining in words of one syllable that we were broke, I saw my husband’s hand held high above his head at a charity auction. I assumed it was the gesture of a drowning man; but the auctioneer took it as a bid and the gavel fell. We, whose outgoings exceed our income, paid handsomely for a day’s labour from six young people from Youth Action Wiltshire — a charity that supports disadvantaged young people. A very good cause, I didn’t doubt, but was the man mad? The six kids arrived last Sunday, three girls and three boys, between 13 and 17, all responsible for a parent or a sibling with some kind of serious disability or addiction. Their task was to plant trees in the paddock, and not one of them looked fit for the purpose. They were almost as slight as the saplings and the soil is solid clay.
issue 09 April 2011
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