Concerns about the loss of fundraising opportunities due to the Covid-19 pandemic led the Dorchester and District Christian Aid group to produce a recipe book, Cooking for Life.

The book includes more than 100 recipes from congregation members across Dorchester and further afield and has now raised £5,000 for the charity.

Co-author Tony McDougal said the book was a real opportunity for people to give their support to a charity that works constantly with the most marginalised in society.

"I am thrilled that we've raised this fantastic total and delighted that every penny is going to support Christian Aid's work around the globe," he said.

"Poverty, whether it's here in Dorset, or across the world, is an outrage in the 21st century. It robs people of their dignity and lets injustice thrive."

This year's Christian Aid Week, which runs from May 14 to 20, involves a range of events and activities, including:

• Big Brekkie at Dorchester Baptist Church on Sunday, May 14 from 8am
• Ecumenical service at St Peter's Church on Sunday, May 14 from 4pm with guest speaker Rev Martin John Nicholls from Devon
• Delivery and house to house collections from May 14 to 21
• Street collection in South Street, Dorchester, on May 19 from 9am to 4pm

This year's theme looks at how soaring costs are affecting people both in the UK and around the world.

It looks specifically at family life in Malawi, where food, fuel, fertiliser and school fees have doubled in price in the past 12 months. Hard-working farmers are seeing their harvests fail as the climate crisis brings increasingly erratic weather.

For example, the impact of the recent Cyclone Freddy in Malawi have been devastating. Floods have washed away crops and over 500,000 people have been displaced, with hundreds losing their lives.

Christian Aid is working with farmers to transform their livelihoods using the humble but mighty pigeon pea: a drought resistant, soil-revitalising, high-protein, low cost crop.

Tony Boyden, Dorchester and District Christian Aid chair, urged people to support the charity in any way they could this year.

He said: "One way churches are getting involved is to take part in the Big Pea Challenge through holding a pea-themed fundraiser this May.

"Whether you're a gardener, a cook or up for a bit of fun, there are plenty of ways to help – it could be a 'pea-souper" lunch, a pea-themed dinner party, a sweet pea flower arrangement or a pigeon pea scavenger hunt."

For more details or to support Christian Aid, visit https://www.christianaid.org.uk/