THAMESDOWN Ladies Choir capped another year of fundraising with its annual Christmas concert and a £2,000 cheque for hospital charity Brighter Futures.

Each year the choir, which has been running for 39 years, adopts a charity from the Swindon area and dedicates all its fundraising revenue to it.

In 2014, the charitable arm of Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust successfully raised £75,000 to pay for a year’s worth of intra-operative radiotherapy treatment.

The choir’s efforts represented the biggest single charitable donation it has made in recent years, according to musical director Shelley Morgan.

Jennifer Green represented Brighter Futures at the concert, on December 11, when the charity was presented with the money at Bath Road Methodist Church.

Shelley, who has been a member of the choir since 1998, said: “We chose Brighter Futures because it was set up at the beginning of the year, when we were making our decision.

“It is also a topic close to the hearts of a number of our members, who have been treated for breast cancer, and a number of our members have lost their fight with breast cancer.”

The bulk of the money raised came from sell-out concerts in the summer and at Christmas, and from a number of events held throughout the year.

Shelley said the choir always raises between £1,000 and £2,000 for its designated charity, but 2014 was particularly profitable with lower than usual operating costs.

The choir’s 2015 charity will be decided at the end of the month.