IT JUST shows what can come from idly scanning the small ads in the columns of the Church Times. The Revd Ann Howells, Vicar of Llandybie, in St Davids diocese, was glancing at the column of small ads with miscellaneous requests when she noticed a plea from the diocese of Masindi-Kitara, in Uganda, for a set of robes for its in- coming Bishop, the Rt Revd George Kasangi, who had no suitable robes to wear for his consecration.

Mrs Howells had recently been en- trusted with the robes (left) of the late Bishop Ivor Rees, Bishop of St Davids from 1991 to 1995, who had died a year ago. It had been his wish that his robes should be offered for the use of a new bishop somewhere in the worldwide Church. "Bishops' robes are expensive things to buy," Mrs Howells says, "and they can be difficult to obtain in many parts of the world. This was just the opportunity we were looking for."

The advertisement had been placed by a former teacher, Penny Mann, who was a friend of Bishop Rees; and her husband, Basil, was able to take the robes to Uganda in time for Bishop Kasangi's consecration in St Matthew's Cathedral, Masindi.

Meanwhile, Bishop Rees's family are delighted that his wishes have been fulfilled, and his robes were given a new lease of life where they were genuinely needed.