Ashley Ukraine Appeal Concert
We wanted to update the village on last Saturday’s Ukraine Appeal Concert in Ashley Church, and to thank everyone for their support and very generous donations. We raised £4326, which has been donated to the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.
Planning for the concert, which was conceived by Peter and supported by Eddie, only started some three weeks before it actually took place, and included the Easter holidays, so we were delighted to sell some 140 tickets, and welcome over 100 on the night. Money from ticket sales was supplemented by some very generous national and local corporate sponsorship, and donations from many who were unable to attend the concert. We were also gifted some fabulous raffle prizes.
Extensive advertising in local papers, on Harborough FM, and with posters, meant that people came from far and wide to join Ashley villagers for the concert. The church was lit up inside and out with the Ukrainian colours, and our three formidable singers provided exhilarating performances from a wide variety of musical genres.
At the start of the concert, Peter spoke of the two key reasons for running the concert: namely the support for Ukraine that Ashley had pledged at the ‘Any Questions’ broadcast; and the loss of much his family in the Holocaust. He spoke about the similarities in terms of genocide instigated by Hitler and Putin, and highlighted the importance of today’s media coverage in informing us about what is happening. We were privileged to be joined on this emotional evening by a recently arrived Ukrainian family, and heard a very moving story from the husband of one of the Ukrainians about the challenges that they experienced getting here, and the family members whom they had to leave behind.
Ashley should be proud to have hosted such a poignant event, and to have made a sizeable contribution to the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.
Peter and Eddie
Kibworth Art
