Young carol singers put Hartlepool shoppers in festive mood

Visitors to Middleton Grange Shopping Centre got a special Christmas treat with children performing carols during the day.

Pupils from three of the town’s primary schools went along to the town centre to perform and to raise money for RNIB’s Talking Books charity initiative.

Hartlepool’s Rift House Primary School, St Theresa’s Roman Catholic Primary School and Barnard Grove School, were spreading festive cheer for customers to enjoy while out and about preparing for the big day.

The three recitals, which took place between 10am and 2pm at Centre Square, helped to generate much needed funds for a new talking book for RNIB’s Talking Books library.

The charity, which supports people with sight loss, is hoping to reach a target of £2,500 by working with a host of the town’s businesses, schools and organisations.

The Talking Books service is one of RNIB’s most loved services and offers more than 25,000 fiction and non-fiction novels.

Helen Rogers, area fundraising manager for RNIB in the North East, said: “We’re absolutely delighted that the schools chose to assist us in this way.

“We know that talking books can open up a whole new world for blind and partially sighted people. We urgently need to expand our library so people living with sight loss can access even more books.”

To sponsor an adult talking book, it costs £2,500 and £1,500 for a children’s book. This primarily covers studio time as an average book takes around 16 hours to record.

Helen said: “We hope that the town’s residents and businesses will support us in trying to achieve our goal and sponsor a talking book, and ultimately help us change the story.”

Mark Rycraft, Middleton Grange Centre manager, said: “We were delighted to welcome these talented choirs to the centre. Not only are they supporting a very worthwhile cause, the childrens’ recitals brought a wonderful yuletide treat to our customers’ Christmas shopping trips.

“We were really looking forward to their performances and repertoire of songs which were thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.”

Rift House Primary School youngsters were first to performing at 10am, followed by the children from St Theresa’s Roman Catholic Primary School at 11am and Barnard Grove School pupils took to the stage after lunch at 1pm.

For more information on the RNIB Taking Book initiative or to help sponsor a book visit www.rnib.org.uk/sponsortalkingbooks.