An evening of music and community spirit at St Matthew's Church has raised £800 for two local charities. The Hope in Harmony Concert brought together Great Barr Brass, St Matthew's Community Choir and special guest soloists Jorja-Jo and Ian Davies, with funds supporting Walsall Bereavement Support Service and The James Brindley Foundation. The event highlighted the power of music to unite communities while making a lasting difference to local people.
Saint Matthew’s Church held a concert on the 10th of October, featuring: Great Barr Brass, the St Matthew’s Community Choir, and special guest soloists Jorja-Jo (Walsall's Got Talent Finalist) and Ian Davies. With the event starting at 7pm, the night was filled with music at a five pound ticket fee. Andrew Clayton is the Director of music at St Matthew’s Church and he is the Conductor of St Matthew’s Community Choir, and the Musical Director of Great Barr Brass.
“The music people make to tell stories, bind communities together, and the songs they learned to keep a social history has always been part of looking after one another”.
Hearing from the Charities involved
The event was in aid of two charities hoping to raise money for these causes.
Walsall Bereavement Support Service was established in June 1996 (currently celebrating 30 years), an independent local charity that provides free support for those who are grieving. By providing advice for all ages, the service provides confidential one to one support.
“Society can often put pressure on people to return to ‘normal life’ quickly but for some people their lives and routines have been turned upside down” (Nikki Preene, Service Administrator)
The other charity was, The James Brindley Foundation which was founded in 2018. With the charity being made by the Brindley family in honour of their 26-year-old son, James Brindley, who was murdered in an unprovoked knife attack in June 2017. The charity runs a ‘Full Circle’ programme that helps support for children or young people who are at risk and offending. During the event Charlotte Brindley expressed,
“What a lovely opportunity for the community to come together, and listen to some fantastic music, for us we are always grateful for fundraising opportunities for the foundation.”
“As a family of James, doing something good in his name and ensuring he’s not just a statistic, it’s giving him a legacy and it’s educating.”
The event helped raise £400 for each charity.
Comments
Add a comment