WILTSHIRE groups united in perfect harmony at the first Festival of Choirs last weekend.

The Old Town Bowl was the setting for the day of live music featuring 15 choirs from across the county.

On Sunday (JUL 12) The Open Door Choir launched the festival, followed by A Splash of Red, Lynette's Great Western Hospital Choir, the Pewsey Belles, Uplands Choir, The Blue Belles, The Songbirds, Swindon Community Choir, Big Sing Thing, Ten In a Bar, and a grand finale from the Kentwood Show Choir.

More than five hundred people gathered to enjoy a mix of choral, popular, folk, world, ballad and blues music from the best of Wiltshire’s choirs.

The event was compered by Kentwood founder and musical director Sheila Harrod, who is also a patron of Open Door.

Nurse Lynette Corengia, from Old Town, who performs with the Kentwood and GWH choir, organised the Festival of Choirs and said she was delighted with the event’s success.

“I think we raised over £1,200 which is just amazing. I’m so pleased so many people came out and battled the weather to watch the performances,” she said.

“I truly feel it represented everyone in the community. Singing for me is something that enables me to relax, and have fun and get excited about. If I’ve had a long day at work, I feel I can relax and sing all my worries away.”

Proceeds from the Festival of Choirs will go to the Open Door Centre in Swindon, which aims to make a positive difference in the lives of adults with learning disabilities. It is a cause close to Lynette’s heart as her daughter Natalie attends the centre, based in St Barnabus Church Hall in Gorse Hill.

And proud mum Lynette watched on as 33-year-old Natalie delivered a stellar performance with the Open Door Choir,

“Natalie absolutely loved performing and was very animated. I felt very proud to see her up there doing something she enjoyed,” Lynette said.

South Swindon songbird and MP Robert Buckland also took to the stage for a surprise performance, which impressed Lynette.

“Robert Buckland had a beautiful singing voice and I was very surprised and delighted that he chose to sing. Everyone loved it.”

Lynette said her personal highlight was watching the “inspirational” children from Uplands School, which provides education for children with special needs aged between 11 and 19. She said:

“What brought tears to my eyes was seeing the children from Uplands take to the stage, they were in their wheelchairs and it showed that people can really achieve anything if they put their mind to it. They’re inspirational."