SONG FOR AFRICA - an initiative of the Mill Lane Gospel Choir

The People of Sevenoaks united in June to sing for the children of Africa and recorded their very own CD in a bid to raise money for the charity HOPEHIV.

An impressive 400 people joined the Mill Lane Gospel Choir and sung their hearts out with a song penned by Emma Pears, the leader of the Mill Lane Gospel Choir.

All their hard work has paid off in the shape of a CD that will be released on September 9 and all profits, including composer and artist royalties, will be donated to HOPEHIV - a charity that supports children in Africa who have lost one or both parents to Aids.

The Mill Lane Gospel Choir was founded by Emma three years ago, since then it has grown from a modest thirty members to almost a hundred. The choir sings a mixture of traditional and contemporary gospel, R 'n' B and soul and features a diverse group of people, ranging from strong believers to non-believers and aged from 16 to 65.

Regular choir member Diana sums up the feelings of everyone involved: "What makes this choir stand out is the camaraderie and friendship of the members. Of course we want to sing to the best of our ability and we have very talented musicians in the choir and the band, but the heart and soul of what we do is to sing with joy and truth."

HOPEHIV began in 1997 when Phil and Wendy Wall met Zodwa, a two year old orphan girl living in a Salvation Army childrens' home in Johannesburg. She had lost both her parents to the HIV/Aids pandemic sweeping Africa. Legal complications meant that Phil and Wendy were not able to adopt Zodwa into their own family as they had wished, so they decided to raise funds for the financial adoption of Aids orphans like Zodwa all over sub-Saharan Africa. The Mill Lane Gospel choir have already raised around £1,500 this year for the HOPEHIV charity through the sale of tickets for the Song for Africa evening and their other concerts, and they hope to raise a further £10,000 through CD sales.

Emma says: "HOPEHIV is a charity which is really important to my husband and I and it's great to contribute in this way. We know that the funds raised will make a significant difference to the lives of children in Africa."

The evening in June was buzzing with excitement as Sevenoaks residents and the Mill lane Gospel Choir cut their very own disc. Emma taught the audience her Song for Africa called "We Believe" line by line and it included a special verse just for the children, who sang beautifully. The night was considered a great success. Katherine Green from Sevenoaks raved: "I'm on a real high. It's been so much fun and to know it is going towards such a good cause feels great."

The CD will be sold at local outlets in the Sevenoaks area and will be available on the internet from September 9 priced at £3. With a beautiful melody and truly moving lyrics, the song will be a momentous and touching contribution from the people of Sevenoaks to the children of Africa.

Visit www.hopehiv.org for more information on the charity.

	Press releases and other exciting news! Newspaper The Sevenoaks Chronicle printed an article about us on June 29th, please click here to see what they had to say! Please note a correction, however, the CD is available to ORDER from this site, not to download - thanks :) On August 25th 2006, the Sevenoaks Chronicle also ran the following article: SINGING THEIR HEARTS OUT WITH A SONG OF HOPE 15:00 - 25 August 2006 The People of Sevenoaks united in June to sing for the children of Africa and recorded their very own CD in a bid to raise money for the charity HOPEHIV. An impressive 400 people joined the Mill Lane Gospel Choir and sung their hearts out with a song penned by Emma Pears, the leader of the Mill Lane Gospel Choir. All their hard work has paid off in the shape of a CD that will be released on September 9 and all profits, including composer and artist royalties, will be donated to HOPEHIV - a charity that supports children in Africa who have lost one or both parents to Aids. The Mill Lane Gospel Choir was founded by Emma three years ago, since then it has grown from a modest thirty members to almost a hundred. The choir sings a mixture of traditional and contemporary gospel, R 'n' B and soul and features a diverse group of people, ranging from strong believers to non-believers and aged from 16 to 65. Regular choir member Diana sums up the feelings of everyone involved: "What makes this choir stand out is the camaraderie and friendship of the members. Of course we want to sing to the best of our ability and we have very talented musicians in the choir and the band, but the heart and soul of what we do is to sing with joy and truth." HOPEHIV began in 1997 when Phil and Wendy Wall met Zodwa, a two year old orphan girl living in a Salvation Army childrens' home in Johannesburg. She had lost both her parents to the HIV/Aids pandemic sweeping Africa. Legal complications meant that Phil and Wendy were not able to adopt Zodwa into their own family as they had wished, so they decided to raise funds for the financial adoption of Aids orphans like Zodwa all over sub-Saharan Africa. The Mill Lane Gospel choir have already raised around £1,500 this year for the HOPEHIV charity through the sale of tickets for the Song for Africa evening and their other concerts, and they hope to raise a further £10,000 through CD sales. Emma says: "HOPEHIV is a charity which is really important to my husband and I and it's great to contribute in this way. We know that the funds raised will make a significant difference to the lives of children in Africa." The evening in June was buzzing with excitement as Sevenoaks residents and the Mill lane Gospel Choir cut their very own disc. Emma taught the audience her Song for Africa called "We Believe" line by line and it included a special verse just for the children, who sang beautifully. The night was considered a great success. Katherine Green from Sevenoaks raved: "I'm on a real high. It's been so much fun and to know it is going towards such a good cause feels great." The CD will be sold at local outlets in the Sevenoaks area and will be available on the internet from September 9 priced at £3. With a beautiful melody and truly moving lyrics, the song will be a momentous and touching contribution from the people of Sevenoaks to the children of Africa. Visit www.hopehiv.org for more information on the charity. Radio We had a live interview, and a performance of 'We Believe', on the Julie Maddox show BBC Radio Kent on June 26 2006. Production Production of the CD is busily taking place ready for the release of the CD in September. Click here to order your copies. Pictures Pictures of the event are now on the website! Please come back to this section, which is regularly updated.