A COMMUNITY choir has called it a day after 43 years due to a lack of younger voices.

Colwall Singers bowed out with their A Village Christmas concert last month. Formed by Sylvia Jarvis in January 1968, it has raised more more than £11,000 for a variety of charitable causes – £5,000 of that in the last five years.

Originally known as the Colwall Ladies Choir, it had 18 founding members and their first concert raised £12 16s 0d for the Save the Children Fund.

Numbers grew to 28 by the end of the first year and that figure remained the average attendance over the years.

Their last performance came in Colwall Village Hall on Tuesday, December 13, in aid of Borrowers Toy Library in Malvern.

Secretary Elizabeth Boocock said the choir wanted to go out on a high despite the bad news.

She said: “It was a hard decision for the choir members to make to disband but they felt the time was right.

Very few younger voices were joining even in view of the upsurge in choral singing at the moment.

“The choir wanted their last concert to be a happy event, which celebrated the life of the choir.”

As well as playing churches, halls and residential homes, the choir led the singing and supported Women’s World Day of Prayer in Colwall every year.

Some notable achievements in its history include winning the Evangeline Anthony Cup at the Hereford Festival for the first time in 1976 and appearing on the same year’s harvest festival edition of the BBC’s Songs of Praise.

After the final concert, which featured the only remaining founding member Ann Lechmere, both Ron Ward, who acted as the choir’s conductor since 1977, and Margaret Roy, who provided musical accompaniment, were presented with gifts for their services to the group.