Concert helps church reach fundraising target

'Lanky Neet' line up: Vocalist Pat Fisher (keyboard) flanked by (left to right) Tony Bostock, Jamie Harrison (The band 'Gifted'), Roger Halstead, the Rev Sharon Jones, Peter Shrigley, Stuart Carmichael, Sheila Moore (all St Andrew's), Mike Fisher, Gareth Dickinson ('Gifted').

The Wider Welcome scheme at St Andrew's, the parish church of Dearnley and Smithy Bridge, reached its target figure of £30,000 in its first year thanks to the £1,320 raised by a 'Lanky Neet' folk concert held in Church on Saturday (24 September).

One hundred and thirty tickets were sold for the sing-along, which was led by the Wigan-based band 'Gifted', featuring the talented vocalist Pat Fisher on keyboard, backed by guitarists Tony Bostock, Jamie Harrison, Mike Fisher and Gareth Dickinson.

Visitors from as far away as Suffolk and Kent shared in a Lancashire hot-pot supper and sang the night away in a musical reminder of the days when cotton was king and the red rose county was the industrial heart-beat of the nation.

'Gifted' whose motto is 'Our music is God's gift to you,’ have raised more than £14,000 in the last three years to support charities and other worthy causes. They donated their services as their contribution to Wider Welcome.

"It was a superb evening and one which took us beyond our target figure for year one," said Peter Shrigley, chairman of the Wider Welcome project team, which is striving to upgrade and extend the Church's community facilities.

He added: "Thank-you to everyone who has supported Wider Welcome. May I renew my plea for your continued commitment to the achievement of our further ambitions in the year ahead.

"We intend to reach out to as many people as possible within Dearnley and Smithy Bridge to ascertain how we may extend a Wider Welcome to them."