A sold-out concert at Pershore Abbey raised almost £5,000 for Ukraine.

The voices of Vocal High and Excelsa Voces rang round the iconic building as the choirs performed pieces in nine different languages.

The night kicked off with the Ukrainian national anthem, performed solo by tenor Ian Grist.

Evesham Journal:  Tenor Ian Grist performed the Ukrainian national anthem to start the concert Tenor Ian Grist performed the Ukrainian national anthem to start the concert

Pershore musicians Paula Evans and Chris Long run the two choirs, and played an integral role in Friday’s concert themselves.

Paula directed Vocal High before a solo performance of a chant by Hildegard of Bingen in a dark Abbey which was said to be “spine-tingling”.

Chris meanwhile, performed piano for both choirs, guiding the audience through the evening and introducing the stories behind the music.

The organisers said: “We had the idea for the concert on Sunday morning; we cleared it with the Vicar that afternoon, and by 9am the next morning people were queueing outside for tickets.

“The concert more or less sold out in two days.

“We've been overwhelmed by the response of everybody, to this call for financial aid for Ukraine.

“A massive thank you to the Abbey team for their support with this hugely important cause.”

In total, £4,716.34 was raised, which will go to the Red Cross and Choose Love charities.

Due to the popularity of the concert, a second event is now being organised for later this month, on Friday March 25.

Trudy Burge, spokesperson for the Abbey, believes the town may have raised £10,000 in the last week thanks not only to the concert, but various other events taking place too.

The Town Council held a bring-and-buy sale, the Rotary Club received £3,5000 in donations and Grab A Greek café raised over £1,000 with a cake sale.