26/10/2026
A Big Hit for ChoirandKo and Sussex Cancer Fund !
A truly magical evening featured 170 singers from ChoirandKo in the Chapel of Saint Saviour at Ardingly College. The atmosphere was electric amongst an audience of over 300 and the choir sang beautifully. It was an incredible evening of music and a highlight for many was their rendition of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' - which hardly left a dry eye in the chapel ! The choir provided their services for free and many travelled from all around Sussex and Surrey to perform on the night. A huge thank you to Karen O'Connor, the charismatic choir leader and all the choir members.
The event raised an amazing £7,050 for the Sussex Cancer Fund and this money will significantly help in our quest to make life better for cancer patients in Sussex – by contributing to the funding of equipment, facilities, services and selective research programmes that make a tangible difference for patients who are often on a difficult and stressful journey.
We were absolutely thrilled by the community's overwhelming support in attending the event, buying raffle tickets, drinking huge amounts of tea and coffee, eating delicious cakes and purchasing drinks at the bar. The audience filled the College Dining Hall and the Chapel with wonderful energy, warmth and generosity.
The event was supported by 47 volunteers from many community groups - including Cuckfield Lindfield & Haywards Heath Rotary, The 41 Club, Hurst Pretenders Walking Football Club, The Triangle's Walking Netball Club, Burgess Hill Running Club and individuals. We had volunteer teams running the bar, catering, meet & greet services, health & safety, selling raffle tickets, making cakes, collecting payments and directing car parking (in very cold conditions outside!)
Our sincere thanks go to all the team leaders and volunteers who worked so hard to make this event a success; the camaraderie, energy and enthusiasm were there for all to see.
This experience of successful multi-community group volunteering in Mid Sussex means we can organise large events in the future with real confidence.
We had some excellent raffle prizes donated by local groups and businesses, which contributed massively to our raffle ticket sales - so a big thank you to them for these donations. Thank you also to the Southdowns Magicians who entertained guests in the Dining Hall with close-up magic - and to all our various suppliers who were so helpful.
Finally Ardingly College were terrific hosts and even arranged the washing up - of which there was a mountain! Thank you.
All in all - a superb event with an outstanding result that was fun to plan and deliver.
More news will follow on future events.
Russell Taylor & Jules Greenfield
Central Sussex Volunteer Group
Sussex Cancer Fund
For more information please contact - [email protected]
[email protected] (Cuckfield Lindfield and Haywards Heath Rotary)