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Singing for Syrians

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This is a text-only version of an article first published on Monday, 2 November 2015. Information shown on this page may no longer be current.


 

Victoria Prentis, the MP for North Oxfordshire.

A CAROL concert initiative dreamt up by an Oxfordshire MP while she was in the bath is set to see events happening across the UK to help some of the most desperate people who are stuck in war-torn Syria. Churches are being encouraged to hold their own carol concert during December, in the national Singing for Syrians event.

Victoria Prentis, the MP for North Oxfordshire, said: "We see lots of pictures on the television of young men from Syria travelling to Europe and only a few families.

What worried me was the plight of the grandmothers and grandfathers and the people who don't leave.

They are in a bad position to start with, but they are in a worse position if their families have gone.

I have a grandmother who is 92 and I was concerned about the older people in Syria. "At that moment Victoria received a letter from the Hands Up Foundation, a charity formed in 2014 to help those in need in Syria.

"I'd never heard of them but they are working on the ground in Syria, in Aleppo. " Singing for Syrians will see money raised at carol concerts going to the Hands Up Foundation (www. handsupfoundation. org) and to Christian Aid (www. christianaid. org. uk). "I felt that I had to do something about it.

In the past I'd held carol concerts and raised £60,000 for the Oxford Children's Hospital.

With singing, everyone enjoys it, and I felt this was a movement I could start.

A number of other MPs have got on board to help make it national and St James, Somerton, where I am the churchwarden, is joining in. "Bicester Churches Together are set to get involved and Steeple Aston church in Oxfordshire is also planning a service.

The Somerton Advent concert will take place on6 December.

"It's our normal Advent carol service and we'll pass around a donation bucket.

We want to make this as easy for people as possible.

They can simply pass around a bucket at one of their usual carol services, or organise a new special one. "Victoria is also arranging a big carol service at St Margaret's, Westminster, on 15 December.

Everyone is welcome and tickets are £10.

For your 'How To' pack, sponsorship opportunities and other enquiries please email: singingforsyrians@gmail. com or telephone: 01869 233685. See also: www. oxford. anglican. org/refugeecrisis

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