Singing to raise a smile

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Local dental surgeon Tomos Lavery, who is also a classical trained singer, will be holding a music concert on Saturday June 13  to raise money for global cleft lip and palate charity ‘Smile Train’. The concert, in St Mary’s Church at 6:30pm, will be the first of many as part of ‘Sing 2 Smile’, a not-for-profit organisation, founded by Lavery, with the aim of raising money for cleft lip and palate surgeries through musical concerts, whilst showcasing young and talented musicians across the UK.

His organisation actively supports Smile Train, which provides training and funding to empower local doctors in over 85 countries to perform free cleft repair surgeries on children in their communities. The concert will showcase performances from Lavery  himself, who sings tenor, soprano Ffion Lavery, violinist Tom Aldren, compere Deborah Hawksley, trumpet player Katie Smith and accompanist Richard Hall, as well as a Capella group “All The King’s Men”.

Lavery, who started singing when he was eight years old, said: “As a dentist I learnt about cleft lips and palates whilst studying for my degree, so I understand the disfiguring affect it has on children born with one. Knowing this, I wanted to put my passion for classical music to good use by holding the Sing 2 Smile concert. Through this, we hope to raise money for Smile Train to help children born with a cleft lip and palate get the surgery which is so easily available here in the UK, but not in developing countries – and my friends and I are encouraging the whole community to come together to enjoy themselves at the concert, whilst also raising money for a good cause.”

Amerjit Chohan, Smile Train’s Director of Fundraising in the UK comments: “It is incredibly inspiring that Tomos has combined his love of singing and passion for dentistry to make a difference in the lives of children born with clefts. Sing 2 Smile is a fantastic initiative and Smile Train is excited to be a part of it.” Tickets for The Sing 2 Smile classical concert, which will take place at St Mary’s Church, are £15 and there will be opportunities to make a donation. For more information or to donate, please visit www.sing2smile.org. For more information about Smile Train, please visit www.smiletrain.org.uk

Photo: Tomos Lavery

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