Roc Vannin choir has donated £3,000 of member subscriptions to charity.

The 52 choir members have been unable to meet for their regular Monday night rehearsals or attend pre-booked gigs and public performances since the island went into lockdown.

While they are unable to get together, members were given the opportunity to stop paying their subscriptions.

But they were very keen to continue interaction with the local community and unanimously decided to keep up the payments so that they could be donated to three charities, Isle of Man Foodbank, Cruse Bereavement Care and Housing Matters.

The choir’s chairperson, Carey Chung, said: ’Roc Vannin has, since our inception, always raised money for local charities through performance fees and donation buckets at events.

’The consensus was that fundraising should continue, especially during this difficult time.

’After much deliberating and collaboration, our members, being the lovely people that they are, decided that they wanted to donate to the most vulnerable and hardest hit by the Covid-19 crisis.’

Cruse Bereavement Care chief executive Amanda Cafearo thanked the Onchan-based choir for their donation, saying: ’We are all concerned for those that are bereaved now, Covid related or not.

’The restrictions around funerals, social isolation and not being able to say goodbye is going to have a huge impact on people who have lost loved ones.

’Those who are bereaved are likely to find their grief and isolation is amplified.’

The choir was created in 2013. Before Covid restrictions were introduced, they met on Monday evenings at The Elim Family Centre in Onchan. For more information visit their website www.rocvanninchoir.com or their Facebook page.