Last night at the beautiful St Luke’s Church in Chelsea, we began our Christmas festivities with Royal Brompton Carols by Candlelight, which raised over £10,000 for patients who have been critically ill.

Everyone at the Charity was thrilled to bring friends of the hospitals together in person for a carol concert for the first time since the pandemic began. Guests were treated to angelic singing from the London Oratory Schola, performing a range of classic carols including Once In Royal David’s City, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel and O Little Town of Bethlehem.

There was a welcome from Charity Chief Executive Richard Bowyer, readings from Dr Anne-Marie Doyle, Consultant Clinical Psychologist; Samantha Cliffe, Lead Nurse for Cardiac Nuclear Medicine and Noel De Keyzer, from Savills Knightsbridge; as well as blessings led by Reverend Bello Manhilum. Richard Bowyer said:

It was a beautiful evening of festive celebration and a great way to start the Christmas season. We were delighted to host London Oratory Schola and to see so many of the Charity’s supporters together with our NHS colleagues. This has been a difficult year for us all, and the pandemic is far from over, but we all felt encouraged to be able to celebrate Christmas together.

The funds raised from last night’s carol concert will go towards a new initiative, Road to Recovery: Post Covid Mental Health Programme. This new appeal will fund accessible one-to-one counselling and group support for Covid-19 patients and their families. Battling the disease is only part of the journey to recovery for some severely ill Covid-19 patients, and this new programme will provide the help that these people, who have had a very challenging year, need.

We want to thank everyone who came last night and gave generously. All the funds raised will be doubled, as part of our Christmas campaign, Doubling December and will make a huge difference to patients. We would also like to thank Savills for sponsoring last night’s event.

Merry Christmas from everyone at the Charity.