Summer Spectacular is a sell-out success raising £800 for charity

The annual event, held at St Augustine’s Church, Bexhill saw people being turned away at the door. Musical director, Keith Richardson, said: “We had a full house and on safety grounds alone, we had to restrict numbers. With a choir of forty ladies, stage crew and helpers totalling 23, we had to draw the line somewhere.

“We have a fantastic show with a real mix of talent provided by the choir, a vocal duet from two talented sisters- a local poet and authoress - together with two professional soloists.”

The Summer Spectacular raises money through ticket sales and a Star Raffle for charity donations and a fund towards the following year’s show. The chosen charity this year was Parkinson’s UK – Bexhill Branch and Keith says the choir were “delighted “to present a cheque for £500 to James Vidler, Chairman of the branch.

To mark the occasion of Dame Vera Lynn’s 100th birthday, celebrated earlier in the year, a section of this year’s programme was used for singing refrains from some of her most well known songs.

The Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity, which caters for children under five years of age who suffer with cerebral palsy, benefitted through a retiring collection. More than £275 was collected as the audience left the church, which was increased from choir funds so that a cheque could be donated totalling £300 to the charity after the concert.