Funds: A fund-raising meeting is to be held on Tuesday April 24 at 7pm at Abergavenny Priory Centre. Last time, about 20 people attended the open meeting and a great many ideas were suggested.

Veterans parade: Old soldiers will march through the streets of Brynmawr on their annual veterans' parade.

Representatives of Abergavenny and the Heads of the Valleys Royal Engineers Association are due to stage the military spectacular on Sunday, June 3.

The parade will assemble at Brynmawr Royal British Legion club at 2pm for the precision march to St Mary's Church for a short service of celebration.

Afterwards, the old soldiers will march through the town via the cenotaph, where the salute will be taken.

The celebrations will end with refreshments at the Legion club.

Association chairman Adrian Jones and his colleagues are hoping that as many people as possible will support the event.

Prayers: Abergavenny and District Council of Churches have organised a prayer meetings at the Baptist Church on Tuesday May 8, and the Gateway Centre on July 2, both starting at 7.30pm.

Council meetings, all at 7.30pm, have been arranged for the United Reformed Church on June 11, Methodist Church on October 4 and the annual meeting at the Gateway Centre on January 9.

Easter egg: An Easter egg raffle and coffee morning at Christchurch raised a magnificent £540.

The next event at the church is the flower festival from May 25-28, with a preview supper at the Western Road home of Mrs Ellen Downey. The annual fete in North Street is planned for May 26.

Fellowship: Twenty members of the Ladies Fellowship welcomed the Rev Malcolm Lane, one of the clergy at St Mary's Church, to the monthly meeting.

Father Malcolm, speaking about his work as a Gwent magistrate, said that after attending interviews and a period of six months he sat on the bench at local courts to hear a variety of offences and "to learn about the other side of life."

After an interesting talk, he answered questions with a touch of humour.

The Fellowship next meets at 7.30pm on Tuesday April 17 at the Priory Centre, when Jill Branch and Katrina Gass will speak on Fairtrade.

Choir: An American choir, the Rutger University Chorus of New Jersey, is due to sing at St Mary's Church on May 25, starting at 7.30pm.

The group will be joined by the choir for part of the performance, which is one of six concerts in Wales during a week-long tour.

The programme will include classical American and European choral works, and arrangements of spirituals and folk songs from around the world.

The Chorus will also honour the memory of Paul Robeson, a civil rights activist, actor, singer and alumnus of Rutger University.

The concert is free, with a "free-will offering" to offset expenses at the end.

Mothers' union: The Mothers' Union Lent devotional service took place at St Mary's Church, Abergavenny, with the vicar, Canon Jeremy Winston leading the worship and accompanying the hymns on the organ.

His sermon focussed on fasting in Lent, appropriate as the town churches hope to raise £3,500 for the Highveld, South Africa, through the fasting year.

Tea was taken at the Priory Centre, where Mrs Thomas won the raffle. A card was read from Mrs Kathy Palmer thanking the Union for the flowers and refreshments provided at the service to commission her as diocesan MU president.

The next meeting will be at St Mary's on Thursday April 19, starting at 2.30pm. The speaker will be Father Michael Marsden, chaplain at Nevill Hall Hospital.