THE congregation of St Mary’s Church, Wanstrow have once again combined music and fundraising for local charity We Hear You (WHY).
In November last year, a performance of folk collective The Somerset Russets Village Band raised £575 for WHY and on 10th October this year, Cadens recorder group performed at the church’s monthly Chat Cafe and raised a further £100.
The event was held in honour of churchwarden Malcolm Parr’s 70th birthday, who performs with both Somerset Russets and Cadens. Malcolm and his wife Rosie chose to fundraise for WHY after benefitting from the charity’s specialist counselling and emotional support following the loss of their daughter Sophie in 2009, aged 24.
Malcolm said, “Following Sophie’s passing, Rosie and I felt devastated. Family and friends were wonderful but the individual bereavement counselling which we received from the wonderful team at We Hear You was exceptional: such skilled and compassionate listeners who gave us an inner strength to carry on. The help we received put us back on a path where we could move forward with our lives, while still holding our dear daughter close to our hearts.
“Many thanks to our friends and family for their support and generosity at the concerts and for delicious home-baked teacakes and birthday cake we enjoyed last week!”
Fundraising and communications manager, Gemma Wilkes said, “It’s lovely to see people putting their talents to work for WHY and we hope the villagers in Wanstrow had a wonderful time. We exist to make a difference to people who have had to face the unimaginable, like Malcolm and Rosie did, and we’re so pleased that our service helped them. Many thanks to everyone who, in turn, helped them raise such a fantastic amount for WHY.”
To find out more about service times and the Chat Cafe at St Mary’s, visit: https://www.postleburychurches.org/the-church-of-st-mary-wanstrow/.
For more information about We Hear You, visit: wehearyou.org.uk
