Visit to India 2009
David Truby Steve Bennet and Camilla Veitch visited Durgapur in 2009.
Click here for their report

Visit to India 2007
David Truby and Alison Richards visited Durgapur in February 2007.
Click here for a report of their visit
We have started a scheme to buy "long-base" rickshaws for use in the diocese. People can rent the rickshaws and use them to provide an income for their family.
Click here for some photos.

Visit to Wirksworth
Bishop Probal, the Bishop of Durgapur, visited Britain in June as the guest of the United Reformed Church Synod. He spent a couple of days with us in Wirksworth, and gave a presentation of the work of his diocese at St Mary's Church in Wirksworth on Thursday 22 June 2006 at 7.30.

The Bishop has recently been involved in the setting up of an eye "hospital" project in Serenga, a tribal village in his diocese, in which a number of people have already received cataract operations at no expense to themselves. We learnt of the progress of that project as well as other news from Durgapur. On the same evening, Mrs Joan Moor, who visited Durgapur as a "goodwill ambassador" from the Wirksworth team Ministry in February, spoke of her impressions and showed a number of photographs of her visit. Click here for a sample

History
In 2004 we decided as a team of churches (Wirksworth Team Ministry) to sponsor an ordinand, Mrs Swegaeta Das, through her training at Bishop's College in Calcutta. We were particularly pleased to be sponsoring a woman. Swegeta is one of the first women candidates in Durgapur Diocese, and we have had a number of women clergy here in the Team.

In February of this year, Alison Richards, a lady from our congregation in Wirksworth visited Calcutta to take part in a sponsored bike ride for Lepra. Once she had finished that, she visited the Diocese of Durgapur as a goodwill ambassador from the Team, and was well received. She subsequently gave a talk and power point presentation back home. It happened to coincide with a visit from Bishop Probal and a small team of his clergy who were in the UK to participate in the URC Synod. We had a good evening, with a lot of interest from people.

In December 2005 Mrs Joan Moore, another member of Wirksworth's congregation, is visiting a friend in Calcutta. Bishop Probal is arranging for her to visit his diocese, to see a particular project attached to a hospital. It aims to provide cataract operations for people in the tribal areas, and we have already sent some money to support it. She will be staying there for a few days, again as a goodwill ambassador.

The hope is that such visits will continue to raise the profile of the link here in the Team, and will help us to understand how life is for our colleagues in India.

Bishop Probal intends to visit the UK again next year, and my hope is that he will be able to spend a short time with us here in Wirksworth.