Dalesfolk: Kathryn Hammond

Kathryn, a magistrate who lives in Long Preston, is a new-style church worker who is half way through a three-year experiment working with families, and particularly children, in a cluster of parishes stretching along Upper Wharfedale from Hetton to beyond Hubberholme.

Her job is to demonstrate that Christianity is still relevant to families in these days of falling service attendances when Sunday is more like likely to be spent in the supermarket or the DIY store than in the parish church.

But when she took the part time job, funded by the Bradford Diocese, she never expected she would ever face a summer like this. Because, for the Hammonds, foot and mouth disease and its cruel aftermath have become a family affair.

Husband Chris is an agricultural bank manager with Barclays, working from home and dealing with farmers whose lives have been damaged, if not actually shattered, by FMD.

So whilst Chris was helping his clients overcome major financial crises, Kathryn has been helping families - and the children - to come to terms with the emotional blows of seeing their livestock, often pets, slaughtered in the fields.

"As you can imagine, our phone has been red-hot all summer," she says. "Chris and I have had two different sets of worries created by the same situation.

"One of the most desolate days I have ever had was walking through Burnsall when they were culling livestock in the fields. It was like one of those ghost towns you see in old Western films. I could almost see the tumbleweed blowing down the street.

"For the children, it was a time of total bewilderment but, fortunately, I had been able to make friends with many of them in the year before the disease took hold and, I hope, had built up a bond of trust with them.

"They were worried because their fathers stayed in bed in the morning, something that had never happened before. They could also see that mum was worried about dad, so they worried about her.

"Some of them turned to me and I tried to explain the best I could. I suggested that they make workbooks about the disease, collecting newspaper cuttings and the like. That way, we could at least get rid of the ignorance, to refute some of the rumours and misunderstandings which were rife up the Dale.

"It might not have made things a great deal better but I think it helped the children to talk and at least stop worrying about things which were not true."

Kathryn Hammond is a bright, perky lady with a huge zest for life and hard work. She admits that, at the height of the crisis, that she sometimes felt "helpless" - which, I suspect, was a very new feeling for her.

But she went on: "If ever there was a time for people to take some solace from the church, this was it, so I was pleased to be available for anyone wanting to talk.

"I visited where I could but, of course, I couldn't get up to Littondale and places like that. So I used the phone. I hope it helped."

I am sure it did because Kathryn, a farmer's daughter from near Fountains Abbey, could empathise with the suffering - as, indeed, could her husband, who also comes from a farming background.

They met when they were both working in banking and moved to Long Preston 15 years ago. For many of those years, she was secretary of the local primary school, which gave her a lot of practice in dealing with children - and that came in useful when the Bradford Diocese authorities decided to appoint a lay families worker to pioneer a new type of church project.

She talks about it with great frankness: "It is no secret that church attendances have been dropping off for some years, even in the countryside where traditionally they have been high. The idea was to show families, and in particular children, that the church is still here, still open to them for help and comfort, even if they do spend their Sundays shopping.

"It is not a difficult job for me because I have been a practising Christian since I was a teenager and I look upon it as a source of inner peace - it gives me strength even when problems arise."

This drive to make contact has led to several innovations: mid-week communion services for people who do not attend on Sundays; children's events which are more like clubs than the old Sunday school; a marriage weekend for couples to explore what marriage really means - and which was attended not just by newlyweds but by some couples who had been married for 40 years or more.

"One of the main things I do is talk," she laughs. "Everyone has problems but not everyone has someone to discuss them with. We want people to know that the church is here - and ready to listen."

I hope that, when Kathryn's three-year experimental term ends next June, the post will be made permanent. There are many changes afoot in our countryside and having someone to talk to will be a great blessing in coming years.