ALTON Community Choir raised £75.73 for the Basingstoke and Alton Cardiac Rehab Charity at a lunchtime concert in Alton Public Gardens.

Under the expert leadership of Carolyn Robson on July 2, the choir sang a wide variety of songs in a programme featuring arrangements of traditional folk songs and spirituals, African influences and pop songs of the 1960s.

An appreciative, though rather small, audience enjoyed a quality performance from the bandstand – although one lady commented that the watery theme in several songs may have influenced the weather!

A few hardy souls braved the driving heavy rain in the first set before the sun came out for the second set and gave a far more festive feel to the event.

Helen Brown, choir secretary and promoter of the charitable collection, commented on the generosity of the donations from an audience much reduced by the influence of the wet weather.