Elm Wood's choir perform to ladies afternoon tea for GEM Appeal

The Key Stage Two choir from Elm Wood Primary School

Elm Wood Primary School's Key Stage Two choir performed at a charity afternoon tea event at the Norton Grange Hotel on Saturday 10 December.

The afternoon tea was held to raise money money for Rochdale charity, the GEM Appeal, which raises money for research into rare genetic diseases.

Gemma Holt, headteacher of the Middleton school, said: "The children sang a variety of songs that they had been rehearsing since September and were given huge praise from the audience.

"They were absolutely brilliant and really gave a very Christmassy feel to the afternoon.

"Thank you to everyone who took part, including the teachers who have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure the choir was ready."

Because of money raised by The GEM Appeal, pioneering research at The Willink Unit at Manchester Children’s Hospital, a diagnosis of a rare genetic disease no longer means a death sentence as it did for the two sons of the charity's founder, Karen Johnson.

Karen's boys, Simon and Mikey, suffered with Hunter Syndrome, a rare inherited disorder caused by missing or malfunctioning enzymes.

There was no cure and no treatment available for the boys at the time, and any research being done was underfunded and slow. Devastated by the news but unwilling to go down without a fight, Karen started fundraising to raise money to hopefully extend the Willink Laboratory at The Pendlebury Children’s Hospital in Manchester to fund the research and find a treatment that her boys, and other children like them, so desperately needed.

Tragically, both boys lost their lives to the incurable disease at the age of 12, but the GEM Appeal continued to grow from strength to strength in their memory. 

Run entirely by volunteers, the GEM Appeal has now raised over £3 million towards funding research into, and finding cures for, genetic diseases.

So far, the money raised has built a research and treatment unit for The Willink Unit as well as purchasing much-needed medical equipment, to help research, diagnose and treat children and young people with rare genetic and metabolic disorders which were previously incurable.

Thanks to the GEM Appeal, children are living longer healthier lives and the future is now more positive for those diagnosed.