On Monday 19th December, Demelza was thrilled to host our annual Celebration of Christmas carol concert in the beautiful Canterbury Cathedral.

The concert saw us make a triumphant return to our pre-pandemic attendance, with 790 supporters coming along to get into the spirit of Christmas and enjoy the stunning array of performances and readings on offer.

The Demelza Choir, supported by the Eclipse Choir, came together once again to perform their stunning rendition of Andrea and Matteo Bocellli’s “Fall on Me” – a reprise of their incredible performance last year. We were also joined by the Kent School of Performing Arts, who shared two beautiful performances of “Something Inside So Strong” and the Christmas classic “O Holy Night”.

The readings were just as impactful; we heard poems and bible verses from our Vice President Len Goodman, as well as singer-songwriter Katie Kittermaster, actor and musical theatre star Anna-Jane Casey, and even Adam Phillips, the brother of our namesake Demelza Phillips.

We were also privileged to hear, in her own words, what Demelza’s support has meant to mum Penny and her family as we have cared for her son Zyan for the past 10 years. Zyan’s older brother Zuriel, who accessed music therapy from Demelza when he was very young, then followed up with a beautiful piano rendition of “Walking in the Air”.

One guest who attended on the night, Emilie, said: “It was an absolute pleasure to attend my first Demelza Celebration of Christmas concert and what an incredible experience! Festive readings, carols by candlelight, performances from the Demelza choir, and speeches from Demelza staff and parents all made for a magical evening that well and truly got me into the Christmas spirit. Well done to all at Demelza for bringing this together... I can't wait for next year!"

Senior Events Executive Larissa, who organised the event, said: “The Celebration of Christmas was a great success – in total we raised £19,731! It was lovely to see the choirs, musicians, readers and supporters come together for a magical evening in support of Demelza. What better way is there to start our festive celebrations!”