A CHRISTMAS concert in aid of Pancreatic Cancer UK took place in Torfaen and raised over £300.

The concert was organised by Blaenavon Town Band and took place on December 15 at St Oswalds Church, Griffithstown.

Both Blaenavon Town senior and junior bands took part in the concert providing the audience with festive pieces and they raised £347.70 for the charity.

Solo vocalist Deborah Harrington also took part in the concert and sang a selection of songs encouraging the audience to join in with the particular favourite being White Christmas.

Speaking at the concert was Pancreatic Cancer campaigner Linda Reardon, who spoke of the importance of the charity and how pleased she was that the band had decided to select Pancreatic Cancer UK as its charity for the concert.

The Mayor of Blaenavon, Gareth Davies, attend the concert and spoke about his pride for the band and the work it does in and out of the town.

James Jones, conductor of the Blaenavon Town Band compered the evening, and spoke of his honour to be involved with such a great organisation and said how great it was to share the stage with the junior band.

The age of players on the night ranged from seven up to 72.

Soloist on the night were Lucinda Gough playing Santa Baby and Evan Smith and Andrew Thomas playing a duet, Babe in a Manger.

Chairperson and Principal cornet player Ms Gough called the concert a “great success” offering “a mix of Christmas, film and musicals”.

She added: “Everyone who took part in the concert was fantastic, there were so many people to thank for the evening, so a huge thank you to everyone involved.”

The band are continuing with their Christmas carolling with the following places left to play:

Big Pit on Saturday, 10.30am to 3pm.

A tour of the pubs in Blaenavon on Saturday evening from 7pm onwards.

Morrisons Cwmbran on Sunday from 11am to 3pm.

Asda Merthyr, on Sunday, 11am to 3pm.

St Peters Church, Sunday, 6pm start.