In August 2005 a group of fourteen people from Holy Trinity - aged 7 up - travelled to Hungary to spend a week working on a building project in the town of Papai - a place called Kanaan House.

The group was one of a number from around the country to visit during the summer to work with Brian, the project manager, on the development of a private refuge for young single mothers and their children.

This Christian project is the first such home in the country (unmarried mothers without other resources have to give their children over to the state). The finished building will offer them a safe place to live and a chance to hold onto their children, whilst developing skills to help them support their families.

The week's labours included digging out part of the cellar complex; taking up an old tiled floor and laying a new concrete slab to replace it; chipping plaster off walls and ceilings; sanding a woodblock floor; clearing building debris from the first-floor rooms and the attic; dismantling part of the courtyard's rear wall; and helping to replace six first-floor windows.

But that still left us time to sample the local hospitality by night, to enjoy a day in Budapest, take in Papai's baroque delights, soothe aching limbs in the warm waters of the excellent local swimming pool complex, and visit the amazing ice-cream parlour (quite) a few times. All in all a demanding but rewarding week. Hard work, great fellowship, and linguistic challenges.