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Choir host debut charity concert 'Remember'
Our staff choir, Lift, is hosting its first ever concert at St Mary’s Church, Bury St Edmunds on Thursday 30 November to help raise funds for the hospital’s palliative care services.
Dr Phillippa Lawson, respiratory consultant, founded the choir in March 2017, as a way of helping staff to de-stress and support their health and wellbeing.
It currently has over 40 members of staff who regularly attend weekly choir sessions held in the hospital chapel.
Enthused by their success, Dr Lawson decided to organise a concert locally in Bury St Edmunds. Recently affected by bereavement herself, she wanted to help raise funds for the Trust’s palliative care services.
Dr Lawson said: “It is a concert of remembrance for anyone who has lost someone any time, any place or who has been touched by loss through others.
“We want to remember, to celebrate those lives and to tell people that they are not alone. Staff at our hospital care and continue to care, and are here for our community.
“Choir members really enjoy getting together each week to sing and are looking forward to performing for such an important cause. We hope to support a new patient choir too.”
Lift will sing well-known uplifting classics, such as Fix You by Coldplay, City of Stars from the Oscar-winning film La La Land, Rise Up by Andra Day and a selection of songs from the hit musical Les Misérables. Dr Lawson will also be singing a song she wrote in her early 20s when her own father died.
Concert tickets are £10 for adults and £3 for children aged 12 and under. They can be purchased in advance via JustGiving: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lift2017. Any proceeds made from ticket sales will go towards palliative care at WSFT via the hospital’s My WiSH Charity butterfly fund, and a patient choir to support patients’ wellbeing.
Sue Smith, fundraising manager for West Suffolk Hospital’s My WiSH Charity, said: “Whilst hospitals are about making people better and welcoming new life, they are also a place where people receive end of life care.
“It is so important that our hospital can provide palliative care that helps our patients live as well as possible until they die and supports those around them during what is a very difficult time.
“It is very special that our staff and community can come together in this way to remember those loved ones they have lost, and also to raise money for their local hospital. It will be a very moving evening.”
Tickets can also be pre-ordered to be collected and paid for on the door by calling 01284 712952 or bought on the night.
Light refreshments will be available in the interval. Toilets, including those with disabled access, are available on site.
‘Remember’ concert details:
Date: Thursday 30 November
Time: 7.00pm – 9.00pm
Location: St Mary’s Church, Bury St Edmunds
Prices: £10 for adults and £3 for children aged 12 and under.
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