HAPPA is run by volunteers to take care of retired donkeys when they have gone into retirement and believe me, they are well cared for.
The star of the concert was a young girl called Grace o"Malley, Sadly, Grace had a chest infection and we were told she was not at her best. She opened the show with Winter Wonderland; you would not have known anything was wrong with Grace. Her second song was Some Enchanted Evening from South Pacific, which was lovely. Then came What a Wonderful World, which, again was beautifully sung, however the next song was absolutely mind blowing to say the least.
Grace is just 13yrs old but listening to her sing with a very deep and powerful voice is outstanding, She will certainly be going places when the right people hear her sing.
The next song was "I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables, which is a very difficult song to sing as you need a quality voice with absolute perfection on the very high notes and my Goodness did Grace do exactly that and more. In a theatre, she would have had a standing ovation but here we all were in a church hall listening to a young girl with a voice of an
angel bringing most of us to tears.
Grace will be singing in the Manchester Cathedral on Friday evening 2nd December - anyone who has not seen or heard of this young girl, Grace O"Malley, should try their best to get her latest CD. All the proceeds for every concert or CD,go to the charities Grace supports in Pendle.
I thouroughly enjoyed this concert - it was nice to hear Arthur Griffiths sing The Impossible Dream,that was a lovely song performed beautifully by him and Arthur did help Grace out a few times as by the second half you could see she was tiring,but we have to remember she is only 13.
St Cuthberts choir,sang three lovely Christmas Carols for us and, as usual this was very moving, especially at this time of year. I think the highlight of the show, for all the children was to see Pilgrim the donkey come down the aisle. They flocked around him and I must say he was very well behaved.
All the people in the show, including Shelles Belles, which is a dance fitness group,of young people,giving us some good advice on keeping fit - very enjoyable - but for me the star of the show was Grace herself. Get well soon Grace, I will certainly be watching for your appearances in the near future,Good Luck,because you have been gifted with something very special -,a beautifull voice.
Grace has raised over £27,000 in the last 12 months and has been awarded the 2BR status for her local charities for which she is dedicated to - what a pleasant thing to see when we have so much going on around us,with all young people in general. The aspects of this concert
were excellent,
HAPPA were certainly well rewarded,as Grace has raised enough money for the donkeys to be fed and cared for and maintained in lovely surroundings,for the next 12months,in Pendle. I was not disappointed with anything in this concert, so well done to ST. CUTHBERTS
for putting on this show,
Barbara
HAPPA – Horse and Pony Protection Association
Black House Lane, Halifax Road, Briercliffe, Lancashire BB10 3QU
01282 455 992 – http://www.happa.org.uk/
They organize open days when you can go and have a look round. You can also adopt an animal - definitely worth a look.
