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1st January 2010

Orchestra raises record sums for charity

Musicians from St Albans Symphony Orchestra (SASO) raised more than £1,300 for charities over the Christmas and New Year period – a record figure for their seasonal collections.

The audience at the traditional New Year’s Day concert in the Abbey donated just over £1,000 to a retiring collection to be shared equally between St Albans Bereavement Network and the international emergency medical aid charity, Médecins Sans Frontières.

And the orchestra’s brass players raised a further £375 for the Multiple Sclerosis Society before Christmas by playing carols in the snow for Saturday shoppers in Harpenden and St Albans. They were also able to top-up their fund with local carol singing in north St Albans.

Kieran McGuirk, SASO’s Chair, said: “Fund raising for charity is an important part of the orchestra’s activities in the district, so we would like to thank everyone who contributed so generously to the excellent work of the organisations – local, national and international – that we chose to support. At a time of economic constraint it is especially pleasing to have collected a record total in donations.”