Choir raises £3,700 for Hope House Children's Hospice - video

More than 40 members of Hadley and District Orpheus Male Voice Choir based in Telford took part in the caper to contribute towards the 21st anniversary celebrations of Hope House Children's Hospice.

They even surpassed their initial target of £2,000 by taking song requests from generous members of the public in return for a donation in a collection bucket at the event held at Castle Farm Community Centre, in Hadley and through sponsor forms.

They raised a total of £3,700 for their efforts.

Musical director Robyn Davies said they performed from a repetoire of 64 songs accompanied by pianist Nykko-Mickael Gregoire who lasted the full seven hours when they held the event last month.

"I think everybody enjoyed it and we also had donations given to us for refreshments so we had tea, coffee and home-made cakes.

"We had a lot of people watching all the time, but especially at the beginning and at the end. They were all very pleased that we had achieved it," Mrs Davies said.

The most popular songs requested were American Trilogy, Gwahoddiad and You Raise Me Up.

A cheque for the sum was presented by choir bosses to a representative of Hope House earlier this week at the centre, in High Street, Hadley.

"We're very pleased to be able to do this kind of thing and we'd like to thank the community for their tremendous support because without the community we would certainly not be where we are," Mrs Davies added.

The hospice has sites, in Nant Lane, Morda near Oswestry and in Conwy, Wales.

The choir was founded in 1901 and last year raised more than £10,000 for charities and good causes.

It also released its latest CD 'With A Voice of Singing' earlier this week towards choir funds.

Members have performed about 20 concerts this year, including Bournemouth, and the English Association of Male Voice Choirs event at Worcester Cathedral.