A CONCERT of music and poetry by North Somerset’s ukulele band in Clevedon last Saturday (September 7) raised over £1,500 for the millions in Ukraine still suffering from the effects of the Russian invasion.

A packed audience at St Mary’s Church, Castle Road, Walton St Mary, heard a selection of songs, plus poems by Clevedon poet Peter Gibbs, and the UKeBOX concert began with the Ukrainian national anthem and a traditional folk song, sung by a group of Ukrainian women and girls.

(Image: Peter Gibbs)

All the money raised during the evening from sales of tickets, plus books, sunflower seedlings, pennants, flags, decorations, ribbons and an auction, will go to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, which funds work by 15 leading DEC charities and their local partners inside Ukraine and neighbouring countries.

UKeBOX, formed in November, 2014, with 20 members playing ukuleles, harmonicas, bass, drums and percussion, does not accept money for playing, but asks for donations which all go to (usually local) charities.

UKeBox leader Ellis Johns said: “We are delighted to have played our part again in raising funds for those suffering in Ukraine and their friends and families everywhere.”