The Missions was a box on the sideboard that we occasionally dropped a penny or two in when feeling holy after confession. Mill Hill I seem to recall. And every year for a while, the Holy Ghost Fathers (I think they traded as the White Fathers in Africa) came round and showed us a film of missionaries driving round the bush on motorbikes to minister to the childlike Africans - we all wanted to ride that Matchless 350 and considered, quite seriously for a day or two, whether we really had a vocation. The next arbitrary caning from some idiot Brother generally put an end to such ideas.

As for "life's mission"? Loving freedom and human equality (as I always will), I fell in with Trots and antiracism in the 70s and feminists in the 80s, but too busy being self unemployed in the 90s to do much, after which time we had Tony Blair, Shining New Labour and The Shining New Millennium. Followed by oh bloody dear, a million natural Labour supporters marching against war...

After which there's only hope for a quick and clean death. Antiracism's still good, though.