THE ROTHLEY POST YOUR FREE COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Delivered to Rothley, Thurcaston & Cropston
JAN/FEB 2017
www.birstallpost.co.uk
No. 122
Singers say goodbye to choir leader A POPULAR choir leader who has made many friends in the area was given a standing ovation at her final concert in Rothley. At 4pm on Sunday December 11, Anne Hughes, Maestro of Singing for Fun, drove off into the sunset to a permanent return to her native Pembrokeshire. Anne had been directing a concert at a packed-out Rothley Parish Church for the very last time, and which raised £887.44 for the Soar Valley Community Food Bank. This was the final Singing for Fun concert in a week of concerts which has raised over £8,200 in the Charnwood area as each of Anne’s seven Singing for
Pic: Anne Hughes with Tim Jackson at her farewell concert
Fun groups sung at final events to mark her departure. Anne Hughes brought Singing for Fun to Rothley in the form of a Workers’ Educational Association Class in 2008. In 2009 Anne took the Singing for Fun genre under her own wing, and assembled additional groups through the week in the local area. Soon halls in Woodhouse Eaves, Quorn, Syston and Tilton on the Hill, as well as two sessions in the Rothley Centre, were echoing to the seriously good Singing for Fun that Anne Hughes brought to each occasion. Along the way many end of term concerts have sprung up, all with the aim of offering wonderful free entertainment to an appreciative public. Anne’s vision was always that such concerts ought to have a charitable aim, and concert-goers have been very generous with filling the donations buckets at the end of each concert.
Many thousands of pounds have been raised for the many adopted charities since 2009. Sunday’s last ever concert was hosted by Tim Jackson, leader of the Food Bank that operates out of the Baptist Church in Rothley. At the close Tim praised the sparkling performance of the 70 plus singers, and teased Anne as he presented her with her very own food parcel from the food bank. “We have heard that there is not much food to be had in West Wales, so here is something to be going on with” he said. In reality, the ‘parcel’ was a smart bag stuffed with rather special Italian food and drink items. After the presentation the choir sang as an encore ‘You Raise Me Up’ which ended with a prolonged standing ovation from choir and audience to the much loved Anne Hughes.
Badgers damage cemetery BADGERS ARE causing damage in Rothley cemetery, clawing up large areas of earth. There are fears that graves may be disturbed and human bones unearthed – in 2016 this happened in All Saints Church, Loughborough where one visitor found human bones just 25 metres from the entrance to a pre-school crèche. Rothley Parish Council is responsible for Rothley’s cemetery. Chairman Percy Hartshorn said: “It’s just such a mess up here and we are worried that the badgers will start disturbing graves – a lot of the damage they are doing is in open areas of the cemetery, but some is beside graves.” Building work by developers William Continued on page 2
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