After several weeks of planning, efforts were rewarded at a Christmasw singalong in the ‘magical’ setting of the gounds of the Cliffden Hotel in Teignmouth.

The event was inspired by the Teignmouth hotel’s guest services assistant, Carole Butler.

Val Ellicott and Teignmouth and District u3a Singing For Pleasure group were joined by several members of Torbay Singers, a local, highly respected group of auditioned members.

Val said: ‘A mixture of traditional Christmas carols and songs were led by the singers.

‘The audience participation was great and we all had a wonderful time. Several classical Christmas singalong favourites were performed. Audience participation was encouraged and a good time was had by all.’

Carole added: ‘We had 83 guests turn up to enjoy the atmosphere; the bonfire and Christmas fayre went down well. We managed to raise in excess of £200 for the Alice Cross Centre in Teignmouth – a very worthy cause.’

Julia Street, general manager of the Alice Cross Centre, added: ‘I cannot thank Val and Carole enough for their efforts during the past few weeks to make this happen.

‘The generous donation will certainly help two continue the efforts of the Centre; bringing much needed support to members of the Teignmouth community, who gain fulfilment and inspiration for the work we do.

‘Thank you to the great team at the Cliffden Hotel for the delicious refreshments they served and the Alice Cross volunteers for running the table top, which raised a further £80 for the charity.

‘We really hope to work with Carole again to run more family events in their beautiful gardens – what a magical setting it was for carols by firelight.

‘Finally, a special thanks to the Rev Carol Green, who spoke so warmly at the beginning of the singalong.’