A WOMEN'S choir has hit a high note with its fundraising over the past 12 months and has also awarded grants to several mental heath charities to support their work with children.

Decibellas, a 75-strong choir for upper voices based in Tarporley, raised £3,150 over two concerts in 2023, the most recent being their annual Christmas concert at St Boniface Church in Bunbury.

A charity in its own right, Decibellas also awarded grants of £4,500 to children's mental health charities over the past year. These charities include: Platform for Life; a Chester-based charity offering free local counselling and play therapy for family, Visyon; supporting the mental health of children, young people and their families, Motherwell; a dedicated women's health and wellbeing charity, Chapter Mental Health from Ellesmere Port, and Chester International School's mental heath provision.

At each concert, there is also a cash bucket collection, and at the latest Christmas concert local charity Visyon collected £1200.

Linda de Sá, Visyon's Fundraising and Marketing Manager: "COVID has had a huge impact on the mental health of local young people and their families which has seen demand for our service increase. Our early intervention approach gives young people the tools to lead happy and fulfilling independent futures as young adults. We want to thank Decibellas and all their supporters for helping us to continue being here for young people and their families when they need us the most."

Commenting on the choir’s fundraising achievements, Decibellas’ Chair Jo Mason said: "We are absolutely thrilled to have held two such successful events during 2023, particularly selling out our Christmas concert. It is a privilege to be able to support the work of small, local charities which are doing such important work with children’s mental welfare whilst having such a wonderful time, bringing the joy of singing to so many and being part of such a great group of singers."