Thursday 8 May 2008 

More than 100 students from six schools joined together to help needy people in more than eight countries overseas

The first Maytime Fair, which was in aid of the newly established Australian Jesuit overseas mission, in Hazaribagh, India, was held at Xavier College in 1952.

On the first Saturday in May every year since then the Fair has been staged but the numbers of people in different countries it helps has steadily increased. 

This year the monies raised will help the poor and marginalised in India, Cambodia, East Timor, Myanmar, Africa, China, Vietnam, Pakistan and several other countries. 

It will also support the work of Jesuit Refugee Service.

Not only has the amount of money raised each year increased significantly, but so have the number of people from different community groups who work at the Fair. 

Students from schools, both Catholic and non Catholic, work to set up and run it. 

This year they included more than 100 students from Sacre Coeur, Ruyton Girls’ School, Loreto Mandeville Hall, Methodist Ladies College, Genazzano FCJ College as well as Xavier College.

The Director of Jesuit Mission, Fr Steve Curtin SJ, says that perhaps the most inspiring thing about the Maytime Fair is that people from so many different communities come together each year to work so generously for the benefit of people in far away lands whom they will never meet. 

"In such a practical and fun way, these functions highlight the interconnectedness of all God's people," he said.

"Through financial support and this spiritual and human solidarity, we build bridges across religious, cultural and social divides."