BUILTH Male Voice Choir is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with a very busy programme of activities.

Earlier in the year the choir supported the Brecon Mountain Rescue Team at its annual charity St David's Day Concert when the raffle, which was match funded by Barclays Bank, raised £1,000.

The raffle was organised by the Choir's Supporters Group and recently Joyce Hope, on behalf of the group, presented a cheque to Kevin Harding and Robin Bidgood representatives of the Brecon Mountain Rescue Team.

This emergency service is staffed entirely by volunteers and funded by donation and operates throughout mid Wales, working from the Brecon Beacons National Park north to Plynlimon and from the Welsh borderland westward to the Ceredigion coast.

Builth Male Voice Choir will be hosting a Fiftieth Anniversary Gala Concert with guests Mousehole Male Voice Choir (Cornwall), Shân Cothi and Martha Powell (Harp) at The Pavilion, Llandrindod Wells on Saturday, September 8 from 7.30pm (doors open 7pm). This festival of music will also raise funds for charity, this time Amser Justin Time Pancreatic Cancer Charity Wales, to further the essential research needed to support pancreatic cancer patients in Wales.

Derek Hope, chairman of Builth Male Voice Choir, said it was an honour to represent the choir in this its 50th anniversary year. He said the choir has a proud reputation for supporting local charity groups and has raised many thousands of pounds in the past 50 years and invited new singers to join the choir and continue this support. Information about the choir can be found on its website builthmalechoir.org.uk