For 40 years, Mavis Shortman has been building a Christian Aid community in the village of Chinnor. When she turned 80, that community turned up for her.
Her husband Tony told her they were off to visit friends. When she arrived, 35 guests, a beautifully decorated room and an enormous birthday cake were waiting for her. Every one of them was there because of her connection to Christian Aid.
But those 35 people didn't turn out by accident. Over four decades, Mavis has built a Christian Aid community that, in her own words, 'stretches far beyond the churches'.
It was quite overwhelming and took me a while to process. The lovely citation the team had arranged from Christian Aid nearly reduced me to tears.
Mavis started with an envelope round as a Girl Guide. Every fundraiser starts somewhere. Whether it's a bake sale, a sponsored walk or something no-one's thought of yet, we'd love to help you get started.
From collection envelopes to a village team
Mavis started supporting Christian Aid in 1986. It began with delivering envelopes as a Girl Guide. She went on to co-organise a large house-to-house collection in Stoke Poges with Tony, teach primary school children about Christian Aid across Bucks, Berks and Oxfordshire, and lead the Chinnor Christian Aid fundraising team for the past 15 years.
Every one of those roles was about the same thing. Bringing more people in.
'Part of the fabric of village life'
The Chinnor ecumenical team has been running since the early 1970s. Under Mavis's leadership as chair, it's put on Scarecrow Trails during the pandemic, fashion shows, pancake mornings and stalls at village events. At the start of Christian Aid Week each year, the team organises an ecumenical service, rotating between different churches. MNavis's team in Chinnor is one of hundreds doing the same across the country.
None of that runs without people.
'We’re fortunate that when Chinnor Christian Aid was founded all those years ago it quickly became part of the fabric of village life in Chinnor,' Mavis says.
Her standout moment came last year, at the ecumenical service marking Christian Aid's 80th anniversary. The church was full. And when the service ended, one supporter had brought in an enormous birthday cake she'd baked herself.
Why your fundraising matters
Between 2024 and 2025, support from fundraisers like Mavis's team helped Christian Aid, and our partners, reach 4.1 million people through almost 400 projects with partners around the world.
That support goes into savings groups helping families weather the next shock. Farming co-operatives helping communities grow more, together. Climate resilience training in places already living with the climate crisis. Healthcare in communities where it's hardest to reach.
Every pancake morning in a Chinnor church hall, every bacon butty on a Lancashire moor and every envelope pushed through a Buckinghamshire letterbox is part of that story. Fundraising like Mavis's is what makes the long-term work possible.
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'Inspired people in this village'
'As Christians we are called to support those who face poverty and injustice in many forms,' Mavis says. 'Working together in the Chinnor ecumenical team has inspired people in this village to continue generously supporting the work Christian Aid seeks to do.'
I hope my Christian Aid journey will inspire others to get involved.
And Mavis isn't the only one. Across the UK, our supporters are doing the same.
Benjamin, 12, from Keith climbed 10 of Scotland's peaks with the word 'Ben' in the title, with his grandmother Anne-Marie Simpson, raising £2,500. Gareth Hughes from Prestatyn walked 43 miles along the north Wales coast to mark his own 80th birthday, raising £2,400. Volunteers at Thrum Hall Methodist Church in Rochdale served bacon butties to 500 moorland walkers on the Whitworth Skyline Walk, raising £450.
Every one of them started the same way. Someone decided to do something, and others joined in.
