HALLELUJAH!

It’s another donation to the Daily Echo #MatchMyMoney campaign.

With a sell-out performance of Handel’s Messiah one of Hampshire’s best-loved community choirs raised more than £3,000 towards the new children’s emergency and trauma unit at Southampton general hospital.

Alresford Community Choir chose to donate because they want to “make a difference” to their community.

The money will be matched by Hampshire philanthropists the Barker-Mill Foundation, and then matched again by government, after our successful Say Yes George Campaign – meaning that the £3K will become £9K when it finally gets cashed in.

Hampshire celebrity parents Sarah Parish and James Murray will be adding that money to their #2MillionSteps campaign which is aiming to raise the first £2million towards the new children’s unit.

James said: “Sarah and I are utterly thrilled and incredibly grateful that the uber-talented Alresford Community Choir and their guest orchestra and soloists chose to champion the Murray Parish Trust.

“Their sellout performance of The Messiah absolutely wowed the audience - it was a very special evening, as well as raising over £3000 for our charity. We were also very touched to find out about some of the choir members’ own experiences of paediatric care at Southampton Hospital - it’s hearing things like this that really do make everything that we do worthwhile. “The money raised will go directly to the building of the much needed, brand new, state of the art children’s Emergency and Trauma department in Southampton that will cater for the whole of the south of England.”

As previously reported the choir is one of several Hampshire organisations to put their money where their mouth is and donate to the campaign.

Others include Xelabus, HairXtensions, Eastleigh Scouts, Southampton Rugby Football Club, Remarkable PR, Gleeds, Blaze Construction, Keygrove, Itchen Cork Lodge and Alresford Rotary.

When built the £4.8 million unit will serve children from nine counties and is the start of what will ultimately become a children’s hospital for the south.