THIS is the first jigsaw festival that I have heard of in a church, and it seems to have been very successful, drawing in more than 500 people.

During the year, members of the congrega­tion of St Martin's, Brig­house, in Wakefield diocese, had completed more than 600 jigsaws (someone calculated that that meant 475,000 pieces), and some­how kept them together so that they could be displayed for sale - 200 at a time - on tables up and down the nave. As soon as one was sold, it was replaced, and by the end of the festival 370 had gone. There were several other stalls, and an activity tent for the children. Hot and cold food was served throughout the four-day event.

The money raised is being shared with a children's hospice. The Vicar, the Revd Stephen Spencer, was delighted that the festival attracted so many people from the local community. It was all part of the ten-day Brighouse Arts Festival, which included an ecumenical thanksgiving service, a family concert, an organ recital by Simon Johnson, organist of St Paul's Cathedral, and the first concert in a tour of the "Classic Churches of Yorkshire" by the Masterworks Chorale.