2024

Happy New Year from all at Unity the After Cure Choir (UTACC), we had an amazingly busy and successful 2023 and looking towards 2024 we're ready for another fabulously exciting year ahead of us. It's only February and already we've performed twice and continue to fundraise for our wonderful sponsors, Leeds Hospitals Charity.

1st February 2024 saw our first performance of the year held in the atrium of Bexley Wing, St James's University Hospital in aid of World Cancer Day. This was the first time since before the pandemic that we have been allowed to perform there and I have to say that we all thoroughly enjoyed entertaining staff, visitors and patients at the Leeds Cancer Centre. We also managed to collect almost £200 for Leeds Hospitals Charity in the short time we were performing.

We are really hoping that we can put on another performance in the atrium later this year.

24th February 2024 - An amazing day performing in Victoria Gate, Leeds City Centre. This was a return visit following our 6 hour Sing-a-thon last September. We performed just two 45 minutes sets to a lovely, appreciative audience and raised a whopping £390 for Leeds Hospitals Charity (LHC). All our money raised for LHC will go towards improving the care and experiences within the Leeds Cancer Hospital. Thank you to the lovely management and security staff at the centre for being so helpful and supportive, from everyone at UTACC. We would love to perform again in your beautiful venue and really hoping you'll have us back!!

Pease keep an eye on this page or any of our social media pages to stay up to date with all our forthcoming ventures!

24th September - update

WE SMASHED IT!

Sing-a-thon yesterday at Victoria Gate - 6 hours 4 minutes 73 songs!

Amazing day, loved and enjoyed by all of us.

We have been completely overwhelmed by the donations we have received for the fabulous Leeds Hospitals Charity. All money will go to Leeds Cancer Centre to help all those battling this dreadful illness.

We cannot thank you enough for helping us to not only reach our target of £1500 but to go beyond this.

In addition we also collected a phenomenal approximate amount of £1050 in our 'buckets' during the sing-a-thon!

Thank you again to all those who came to see us, listened to the individual stories from some of the choir, cheered us on and contributed to our cause. I think I can say for all of us that we were extremely exhausted by the end but, very happy that we had been welcomed and appreciated by everyone. A day that none of us will forget.

THANK YOU TO ALL xx

17th September - On behalf of Unity the After Cure Choir I wish to say thank you very much to everyone who has so generously donated to help us achieve our fundraising target for Leeds Hospitals Charity. I am pleased to announce that we have reached our target already!

We still have our Sing-a-thon challenge to complete which takes place on Saturday which we are all looking forward to. This is a big year for us and in particular this month is extra special as not only is it Childhood Cancer Awareness Month but is also 5 years ago this month that Dr Michelle Kwok-Williams and myself set up our support choir for survivors of childhood, teenage and young adult cancers and for those youngsters who received significant treatment for other illnesses. We have come such a long way in 5 years and seen our choir blossom and grow in friendships and confidence.

Michelle and myself continue to be completely in awe of the wonderful messages and feedback we regularly receive from choir and their families about how it has changed their lives, providing the opportunities to create friendships and to be with others who 'get what it's like to be a childhood cancer survivor' It is very humbling.

We couldn't have done any of this without our sponsors and why we are continuing to raise money for Leeds Hospitals Charity Cancer Centre Fund. We have decided to go even bigger and increase our target to £1500!!

Please come along to Victoria Gate Shopping Centre in Leeds City Centre and say hello and perhaps join in with a sing-a-long on Saturday. It's definitely going to be hard work but we're all very determined to complete our challenge to sing for 6 hours.

See you there!!

Update 10th September

IT'S OUR BIRTHDAY !!!!

Unity the After Cure Cure Choir is 5 years old this month and to celebrate we're performing our very own challenge whilst raising funds for our fabulous sponsors Leeds Hospitals Charity.

Our SING-A-THON takes place on Saturday 23rd September in the fabulous Victoria Gate shopping centre, Leeds City Centre.

We will start singing at 11.00 and aim to continue for 6 hours finishing at 17.00!

September is also Childhood Cancer Awareness Month which makes this challenge even more important for us to be doing it now. As you know, Unity The After Cure Choir is a peer support choir for survivors of childhood, teenage and young adult cancers. Our members face many challenges of their own every day as a result of their diagnosis and treatment.

Please, please come along and support us with our fundraising sing-a-long SING-A-THON and have some fun with our amazing choir. We are all very excited to be performing for you again whilst raising much needed funds for this brilliant charity.

See You There!!!

Sun 4th June - Thank you to everyone who turned up at Kirkgate Market in Leeds to hear our performance. We had an absolutely amazing day and thoroughly enjoyed singing for everyone. The atmosphere was fantastic and we were made to feel very welcome. We're already looking forward to seeing you all again in December when we're hoping to make a return visit with some festive songs.

Thank you also to all those who donated so very generously via our collection boxes.

Hi There!

Unity The After Cure Choir are performing tomorrow, 3rd June in Leeds Kirkgate Market to raise money for our sponsors Leeds Hospitals Charity and our target of £1000.

We will be singing from 11.30 and again at 1.30. Please come along and support our amazing choir and help us reach our target. We're very excited to be doing this and we have a fabulous variety of songs for you.

We look forward to seeing you there, please come and say hello and learn more about us.

Thank you very much to those who have already contributed to our JustGiving page.

Unity The After Cure Choir was set up by Consultant Clinical Oncologist Dr Michelle Kwok Williams and Heather Berry, Clinical Nurse Specialist, both part of the Long Term Follow Up Service at Leeds Cancer Centre.

The choir gives survivors of childhood, teenage and young adult cancer and other conditions the opportunity to come together in a safe space to sing, have fun and build new friendships.

Michelle Kwok Williams, who takes on the role of Choir Leader told us:

"We wanted to give our patients more of a fun, friendly and peer support opportunity. Where they could come together, make friends and share their experiences with others who have had similar experiences."

Unity The After Cure Choir are funded and supported by Leeds Hospitals Charity and the choir are keen to give back and fundraise and support this amazing charity who have made such a difference to us all. This page means we can share and raise support for the charity and the Leeds Cancer centre.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.