A merry band of school children brought festive cheer to a shopping centre when they sang their little hearts out to raise cash for a hospice.
The choir from Hafod-y-Wern Community Primary School sang a host of Christmas classics in aid of Nightingale House hospice at Eagles Meadow shopping centre, Wrexham.
Generous shoppers dropped hand-fulls of coins in collection buckets as the 20-strong choir sang a selection of festive favourites.
Nightingale House provides specialist palliative care services, completely free-of-charge, to patients and their families.
Services include a 12 bed inpatient ward, a 15 patient daycare unit, an outpatient clinic, a specialist lymphodema unit, occupational therapy, complementary therapies, physiotherapy including a hydrotherapy pool and an ambulance service.
The hospice also offer range of bereavement support services, including a specialist service for children and young adults.
It costs £7000 per day to run and relies heavily on the generosity of the general public to raise funds.
Choir member Morgan Cavanagh, 9, sang a solo version of Tawel Nos (Silent Night in Welsh) for passing shoppers at Eagles Meadow.
He said: “Singing at Eagles Meadow is a lot of fun. Singing solo was a bit scary at first but when you get half way through you get used to it.
“I did it last year as well so it was quite easy for me. I sing a lot. I have a lot of favourite songs. I’m looking forward to Christmas and I hope Father Christmas brings me more teddies.”
Fellow choir member Lily Arrowsmith, 7, added: “Singing at Eagles Meadow was really good. I’ve been practicing by singing around the house. I’ve been singing Rocking Around the Christmas Tree.
“We’re raising money for charity and that’s important because we’re helping other people who need the money.”
Lily’s proud mum Lisa Arrowsmith said: “I enjoy it coming to see the kids singing. My daughter is involved and I feel very proud. She loves her singing and she’s been looking forward to this. She’s pretty excited and she can’t wait for Christmas day.
Mrs Jo Ferrari, assistant head of Hafod-y-Wern Community Primary, said: “It’s really good that the children can come out here to Eagles Meadow and sing in their community. They’ve been given an opportunity to raise money for a good cause, and show people the things that they’ve been doing in school.
“We usually try to get out at Christmas once or twice, and the parents always come to support he children so it’s lovely, and the children are singing beautifully.
“Nightingale House is a very good cause and we always do our carol singing for them.
“It’s a way for children to learn about charity, and about giving back.
“We also donate to the local food bank, and we try to support local charities as much as we can.
“Things like maths and English are very important but we also want the children to develop a sense of social responsibility so for them to get the chance to come to Eagles Meadow today to do in practice is brilliant.
“We’re doing our best to be Christmassy because all of the staff are in Christmas jumpers today.”
Eagles Meadow Manager Kevin Critchley was delighted the school choir had come to the shopping centre to sing.
He said: “They sang beautifully, creating a lovely festive atmosphere at Eagles Meadow and raising money for the vitally important Nightingale House hospice.”
