The Reverend David Morphy is Director of Education in the Diocese of Worcester. Some years ago, he decided to recycle a Christmas present...

The Morphy's received a big box for Christmas from an aunt and godmother to their children. When the wrapping paper had been removed there was a box that said on the outside "Beer Making Kit". As David and his family bought their alcohol nowadays, they thought they would recycle this present by giving it to a friend whose birthday was just after Christmas. They re-wrapped the unwanted Christmas present and sent it off as a birthday present.

But when the friend opened his birthday present he found not a beer making kit, but four individually wrapped Christmas presents - one for David, one for David's wife and one each for David's 2 daughters. Luckily for David, his friend was "amazingly amused and in very good humour about it".

In the meantime they'd sent off their Christmas thank you letters. One was sent to the aunt, thanking her for the Beer Making Kit. The aunt wrote back saying: "Please open the box because it's not a beer making kit".

Obviously, David had to buy his friend a substitute present. "As he was still into beer making, the obvious gift was a home brew kit".

David knows that he wouldn't be the first person to recycle unwanted presents. He says that the moral to this story is: "Don't judge a book by its cover".