Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, has invited the successful Farmers & Farmers Wives Choir to the Scottish Parliament to perform in front of MSPs and many guests at a specially scheduled evening reception on Wednesday 1st May.
The Choir, which was formed in September 2013, is made up of members from Dumfries & Galloway and other parts of Scotland including Perthshire, Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, Fife, Loch Lomond and Argyll & Bute, and have played at a concert halls and venues across Scotland including the Royal Highland Show.
One of their most recent concerts was on Sunday 27th January at the Sands Centre in Carlisle, which was attended by Emma Harper MSP and her family members.
Commenting Ms. Harper said:
“I am delighted that Kate Picken has accepted my invitation for the Farmers & Farmers Wives Choir to perform in front of many invited guests, including my MSP colleagues at the Scottish Parliament in May.
“The Choir has been an unbridled success since their formation in 2013, performing at some of the biggest concert halls in Scotland, and after watching a number of their performances online And hearing about the fantastic feedback, from people attending and participating, I was thrilled to be able to see the choir perform in person last month in Carlisle – their first concert – noted by the MC for the evening as an international concert – as it was outside Scotland. They were absolutely fantastic!
“I commend the Farmers & Farmers Wives Choir for raising over £31,500 for good causes since 2014 for charities such as MacMillan Cancer Support, RHET, British Heart Foundation, St Andrew’s Hospice Appeal, Ayrshire Hospice, Parkinson’s UK, Cancer Research and RSABI.
“Their version of ‘Carry You Home’ is beautiful and that particular song aims to raise awareness of mental health issues, predominately for those in the farming community, but for anyone who struggles with poor mental health – something which affects one in four people in the UK at some point in their lives. The Choir’s hope is that their songs will encourage people to reach out and ask for help.”
Kate Picken also commented that:
“The Farmers Choir were delighted with the overwhelming response to their recent concert at The Sands Centre, Carlisle, which raised over £12,000 for charity.
“One of the songs performed that evening was ‘Carry You Home’ which was recently recorded by the choir to raise awareness of mental health.
“Emma Harper MSP attended our concert and has extended an invitation to the choir to perform this song at the Scottish Parliament.”
