A chance meeting between members of choirs in Wales and Cornwall resulted in over £1600 being raised for charity after a keen singer on holiday enjoyed a popular local duo in West Looe, Cornwall.

A chat afterwards revealed that the local performers were also members of Polperro Fishermen’s Choir, while holidaymaker Mike Williams was concert secretary of Porthcawl Male Choir from South Wales. More than a year later, the two choirs joined forces for an October charity concert in the lovely All Saint’s Church, Porthcawl, which was full to capacity despite its large size.

Although the concert was free, it raised the impressive total of £1600 for LATCH, including a donation of all the proceeds from CD sales by the Cornish choir. The concert offered a blend of traditional Welsh and Cornish pieces with more modern songs, and culminated in a rousing rendition of the Welsh hymn Gwahoddiad, which the Polperro men bravely sang in English with the larger Porthcawl choir singing lustily in Welsh right behind them.

Many thanks to the choristers for their outstanding fundraising efforts!