Saturday March 23^rd  – Charity Scratch Concert

On Saturday March 23^rd Rob Smith and Liz Edmondson-Smith held a charity Concert at the Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Bishop’s Cannings, Near Devizes, Wiltshire in aid of An African Dream. The rehearsal started at 2.15pm.  A scratch choir, made up of 56 singers from all over Wiltshire, spent two and a half hours preparing to perform the John Rutter Requiem under the Directorship of Ben Gudgeon, Director of Music at Dauntsey’s School. The organist was Chris Totney and the soloists were pupils from Dauntsey’s School – Jessica Foord and Louise Duff.

The evening performance was dedicated to Mark Wynter and his father Mike.

The evening’s programme included the following:

·         An Introduction to An African Dream by Rob Smith - trustee

 

·         A brief talk by Stephen Brasier who has lived and worked in Uganda and who  visited St Mark’s School in 2012

·         A brief talk by Kabanza Hillary, the oldest son of Rev Lumika Eric, who spoke of the positive impact that the charity’s work has had on the community of East Kasese, Uganda. He talked of the importance of education and micro-enterprise opportunities that will lead to self sufficiency.  He thanked all those contributing to the charity enabling new developments and ongoing support.

 

·         The John Rutter Requiem Concert

 

 

·         A Finger Buffet with Drinks

·         A chance to see a large photographic display on An African Dream with a card sale and information desk.

The Concert went extremely well and the whole event was a great success. Several people signed up to sponsor orphans at St Mark’s School. Several people shared their own experiences of similar work in Uganda.

With donations, received before and after the concert, ticket sales and card sales a grand total of £875 was raised for the ‘An African Dream’ charity.

Rob and Liz would like to thank our two speakers Stephen Brasier and Kabanza Hillary. We would like to thank our Director of Music, Ben Gudgeon, Chris Totney and all those who came to sing in the choir. Our thanks, also, to those who helped with preparing food, setting up the church and clearing up afterwards.

If anyone would like to be on our ‘Scratch Concert’ mailing list for a similar fundraising event in the future, please email us on:

e.edmondsonsmith@gmail.com

Rob and Liz