Local Concert Featuring Special Guests Raises £20K for Local Charities

Pictured are the Chair of the Bar of Northern Ireland, Sarah Ramsey BL alongside the President of the Law Society, Suzanne Rice. They were joined by members of the Pro Bono Choir Committee (Sarah Symington, James Toal, Jessica Wolseley, Eva Bashford) headed up by Co-Chairs Tracey Fraser and Sophie Laverty. Also, in attendance was Mr. Joe Rice, immediate past chair who spearheaded the success of “O Holy Night.”

The Pro Bono Choir is a fundraising venture of the legal community in Northern Ireland, made up of Barristers, Solicitors, Judges and other members of the legal profession. In the recent past, they have raised funds by staging concerts in aid of numerous local charities, including NI Hospice, Barnardo’s and Tiny Life.

Their most recent Christmas Concert “O Holy Night” took place at St. Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast on 5th December 2018 has broken the mould for many reasons. It was attended by over 900 guests and the feedback was magnificent.

The Pro Bono Choir raised £20k for the charities Aware and the Welcome Organisation and the event was a wonderful success for the Choir and for their new musical director Mark Tilley.

This week two local charities, AWARE and The Welcome Organisation have been presented with £20,000 which embodies the largest funds raised in a single concert for the choir.

The Pro Bono Choir were joined by several special and renowned guests for the concert including Friar Alessandro, a famed Italian tenor, Fr Liam Lawton, director of sacred music in the Catholic Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin as well as one of Ireland’s premium baritones, Karl McGuckin who is a firm favourite among audiences.

Attendees at St. Anne’s Cathedral to the O Holy Night concert certainly showed their appreciation for the music and their generosity will help provide local charitable services.

Clare Galbraith, Interim Fundraising Manager for AWARE commented

“We are so grateful to the Pro Bono Choir for supporting AWARE and for putting on such a fantastic and memorable event in St Anne’s Cathedral. AWARE is the Depression Charity for Northern Ireland and provides information, education and support on the illness of depression. The money raised will help AWARE continue to provide its vital and lifesaving services into schools, workplaces and local communities across the province.”

Sandra Moore, CEO of The Welcome Organisation, said:

“We would like to express our sincere thanks to the Pro Bono Choir for selecting The Welcome Organisation as one of the charities to benefit from their O Holy Night Christmas Concert. It was such a moving event that will live long in the memory and we were delighted to be part of it.

“The donation of £10,000 is phenomenal and will have a real and positive impact on our work and, in turn, on the lives of the people we help. It will go directly towards our range of potentially life-saving services for people affected by homelessness – including our Drop-in Centre, our Street Outreach service, our Crisis Accommodation for Women, our Floating Support service and our Welcome Home furniture project.”

The Pro Bono Choir is supported by The Bar of Northern Ireland and The Law Society of Northern Ireland.