Jane and Dr Ben Jeffs
The beautiful gardens of "The Dogs" in Wincanton was the venue this year to the 2025 Pilgrim Singers Concert a "Summer Serenade" which was enjoyed by a wonderfully enthusiastic and appreciative audience.
Alongside a chilly summer breeze, the choir performed a varied and fun filled programme, produced and conducted, with her usual aplomb, by choir director Jane Fenton.
For the first time we arranged a couple of stalls hosting some local arts and crafts groups proudly displaying their fascinating and creative talent; whom generously contributed a percentage of their profits towards the concert's fundraising capability this year.
There were some stunning performances by friends of the choir, soprano Ellen, her brother, tenor Gregory Steward, and mezzo soprano Arabella Heaton, notably sang "A Heart Full of Love" by Calude Michel Schönberg from the musical Les Misérables, receiving great applause.
The choir's own trio Sheila Kitts, Janet Lowe, and Phil Lewis sang Phil's lovely arrangement of "Misty Islands of The Highlands" by J Kennedy and M Carr most movingly.
During the interval, our concert-goers widely enjoyed visiting the craft stalls full of lively conversation whilst enjoying fresh Strawberries and Cream sourced from local catering supplier Fine Foods, with thanks to choir members and Terry Kitts serving Pimm's refreshments.
The well-known international charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) were beneficiaries of the proceeds of the concert which we are delighted to declare amounted to a substantial £2,675.
MSF brings medical humanitarian assistance to victims of conflict, natural disasters, epidemics or healthcare exclusion and we welcomed their representative Dr Ben Jeffs on the day. Ben is a trauma and tropical diseases consultant and he outlined for us the work that his charity performs around the world.
The concert this year, was supported by well-known accompanist David Grierson, to whom we convey grateful thanks.
The choir would like to extend thanks to Anna and Philip Hughes for allowing us to stage the concert in their colourful gardens. We would also like to thank all of our supporters, concert goers, the many helpers and craft stall holders for their generosity for making the event such a huge success.