Charities

We take pride and comfort in being able to support various charities as a result of our efforts.

Our concerts are dedicated to worthy causes, sometimes chosen through personal experience, but always in recognition of the work carried out by the people who give their time and devotion to caring for others or researching ways to cure, prevent or treat conditions.

2024 

This year’s charity is chosen through the personal experience of the family of Winston ‘Stan’ Green (see Events). Stan had been a member of the Baritone section of the choir for many years and firmly believed that the choir offered a lifeline through many difficult times.  Sadly, the fight became too much, and Stan left to join the Heavenly Choir, which, I am sure, he is now a fully signed-up member of.
Support for Stan and his family was provided at home by Treetops Hospice and the family are grateful for their kind considerations through a difficult period. We are happy to support the organisation in their valuable and compassionate work.

2023   

This year we are supporting the British Heart Foundation.
The British Heart Foundation is the largest funder of independent research into heart and circulatory diseases in the UK. They fund 49 research projects in the East Midlands and their aim is to create to world free from the fear of heart and circulatory diseases. A world where families are not devastated by the sudden loss of a loved one.
Every 3 minutes someone in the UK goes to hospital due to a heart attack. The BHF wants to increase survival and recovery from heart disease by stopping heart attacks and strokes that strike without warning. By finding a way to prevent sudden death from cardiac arrest and teaching lifesaving CPR so more people survive.
Last year, the BHF awarded its biggest ever research grant to finding a cure for genetic cardiomyopathies – the leading cause of sudden cardiac death and heart failure in young people. For anyone born with this condition they have a 1 in 2 chance of passing it on and there is currently no cure. It can devastate families. Thanks to the support of people like you, there is hope.

A little poem to make you think:-

Your Heart
Your heart isn’t just an organ, a beating entity.
It isn’t just a muscle hidden deep where you can’t see
It’s the centre of your being, the core that makes you whole
It’s the precious treasure in your chest that gives you heart and soul.

It captures memories that make us smile and skips a beat with every scare
It races fast when we’re in love and remembers those who care
It feels joy and pain and yearns for those we’re loved and sadly lost
But loving lots comes with a price that’s surely worth the cost?

Your heart can feel emotion, but in some the pain is real
Not emotional, but physical – a twinge that they can feel
From heart attacks to heart transplants. Research is the key
To unlocking new treatments and setting people free

From Angina to Arrhythmia, from blockages that cause a stroke
It’s not just a man’s disease that affects your average bloke
heart disease kills more women than breast cancer each year
So, squeeze your loved ones extra close and always hold them dear

We’ve researched cures, found kinder treatments – we can mend that broken heart
We’ve developed more genetic tests to stop problems before they start.
Warfarin and statins are drugs that we have made
we’ve powered breakthroughs such as pacemakers and the foundations we have laid……

where children born with a heart condition have a long and healthy life
where new therapies and scanning methods help the surgeons wield their knife.
You’ll live a life that’s free from worry that your heart just is not right
Because the BHF is here for you and we won’t give up the fight.

Remember, your heart isn’t just an organ that pumps blood from head to toe
It’s the most precious treasure in your chest that gives life and helps us grow.
We’re committed to supporting research so no- one’s final song is sung,
No lives are lost to heart disease in anyone too young.

Our research is progressing and we will catch you when you fall
with improved screening, kinder treatment, and better drugs for all.
Thank you all, for your support, I hope you have a ball
you’re saving lives, you’re making change:  I thank you one and all.

Written by Paula Scaife
British Heart Foundation
Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire Fundraising Manager

Together we can fund more research that helps save lives
Only by funding more research can we make the next breakthrough that could save lives.
Find out how you can support us at bhf.org.uk

21st February 
At our recent AGM a proposal was put forward to make a donation to the Turkish/Syrian earthquake disaster and there was unanimous support for the provision of £100.00 to this cause.
In 2021, our nominated charity was Aquabox so we are well aware of the work that this organisation carries out; we are, therefore, making a donation of £100.00 to aid the ongoing work; below is the reported situation as of 17th February. As we are aware, the situation will be ongoing for some time, and today we hear of yet more tremors. The dreadful death toll is now second to support for survivors who need all the help that can be provided. It’s not only the materials that are required but the logistics and supply routes necessary to facilitate the deliveries.

This year we support the dedication and resolve of the Royal National Lifeboats Institution. We, I am sure, are all aware of the work carried out by these brave souls who risk their own lives to rescue others in peril. They also provide education to schools and clubs aimed at highlighting the dangers and preventative measures in their ”Respect the Water” campaign.

2022 RNLI combines ‘The Power of Music’ and a healthy respect for the water.

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2021

Sadly, no donations were made in 2020 as the pandemic left us all in lockdown and unable to join together for our concert. We were delighted that 2021 saw us ‘Facing the Music’ again and we were able to nominate Aquabox as our chosen charity.

Aquabox is a volunteer-led charity. Its aim is to provide water filters to allow access to safe water to people struggling to recover in the aftermath of disasters. In  addition, Aquabox supplies curated humanitarian aid items to communities as they begin to recover and re-build. 

The charity, the brainchild of the Rotary Club of Wirksworth, began in 1992. Since this time, Aquabox has sent out filters to all parts of the world saving and improving the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
The charity relies totally on donations to continue its work.  

If you want to find out more about Aquabox go to www. aquabox.org

This year, 2019, we have agreed to donate the profits from our annual concert to the work of Bluebell Wood Childrens Hospice. Their  aim is to support children and young adults whose lives are just too short. They take some of the stresses away from the affected children, and also from the family, by providing the best care possible in a range of different ways  ensuring that no-one ever has to ‘Walk Alone’.
You can read more about the services  provided by clicking on the link above.

We believe that every family deserves to make magical memories with their child, whether they have years, months, weeks or days together. We are a home from home for families facing the toughest of times and  offer activities to create special memories together, including soft play, sensory activities, music therapy and fun in our large gardens.

We have previously supported the following charities with the proceeds of our annual concerts.

In 2018 we supported  ‘When you wish upon a Star’ which gives pleasure directly to children who suffer in ways we can not imagine; they are so grateful for the ‘wishes’ that they are granted and have memories for life.

When You Wish Upon a Star has a simple mission, to grant the Wishes of children living with a life threatening illness. The charity was founded in Nottingham by Barbara White who was so inspired by a seriously ill four year old with a dream to meet Mickey Mouse that she wanted to bring smiles to the faces of many more brave and courageous children. Our Wishes have the power to transform the lives of the children and families we work with and since 1990 we have proudly granted over 17,500 Wishes across the UK.

Mission statements, hopes and expectations from some others we have helped long the way. We wish we could do more.

Each year the Heart Foundation collect when the choir performs its Christmas show at Ripley Co-Op.  2019 raised £400.00, 2022 raised £300.36

British Heart Foundation

Our vision is a world in which people do not die prematurely or suffer from heart disease. Thanks to you, we’ve made great progress. With you, we’ll beat it.

Supported St Mary’s 2016

 

Saint Mary’s Hospital was founded in 1790 and, over the years, has successfully developed a wide range of world class medical services for women, babies and children as well as a comprehensive Genetics Centre and internationally recognised teaching and research portfolio.
The work we do:
More than 1,200 staff including doctors, nurses, midwives and scientists work in Saint Mary’s and provide the highest standard of care in the following areas:
• Obstetrics and Maternity
• New-born Intensive Care
• Gynaecology
• Genetics

Supported Sands 2015

Sands exists to support anyone affected by the death of a baby, to improve the bereavement care received by parents and families, and to influence policy makers and promote research to reduce the number of babies dying.

Supported Cancer Research 2015 and 2018 (Royal Albert Hall)

Our vision is to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured. Our new strategy will give us the foundations we need to tackle the challenges ahead.

Supported Ashgate Hospice 2017 

“There was just no respite, no time to comprehend what was happening really” said Caroline. “When we first went to the hospice I was very nervous, but it was just an amazing place. We had a guest suite so Dean’s Mum stayed there the whole seven weeks and I stayed most nights and for all of the last three weeks too and we were able to give him all his personal care.”

Donation to RBL 2014

TO THE MEMORY OF THE FALLEN AND THE FUTURE OF THE LIVING

The Royal British Legion provides lifelong support for the Armed Forces community – serving men and women, veterans, and their families Royal British Legion 2014.

Donation to Air Ambulance 2015

Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EMAS) provides emergency 999, urgent care services for the 4.8 million people within Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Lincolnshire (including North and North East Lincolnshire), Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire. We also provide Patient Transport Services in north and north east Lincolnshire and parts of Nottinghamshire. We employ over 2,700 staff at more than 70 locations, including two control rooms at Nottingham and Lincoln, with the largest staff group being accident and emergency personnel.