St Albans youngsters’ playathon in memory of cancer woman

BIG-HEARTED youngsters have used their musical prowess to raise funds for Cancer Research UK, in memory of a mother of three who died from a malignant melanoma.

Thirty children from three years old upwards played a total 44 pieces of repertoire from memory on violins in a sponsored playathon organised this month by St Albans Suzuki Group.

Their efforts have raised about �1,400 to date and one of the organisers, Athena-Mae Cetin, said the group hoped to reach a total of �3,000.

Giles Pratt, whose wife Katie, a mum of three, died earlier this year, wrote to Athena-Mae to say how proud his wife would have been of the young violinists’ efforts and to add his thanks for supporting cancer research.

Two of his children play the violin and joined in the fundraiser which saw the violinists play on and off for two hours, taking 15-minute intervals between playing pieces from various repertoire books, with even three year olds playing from memory.

As pieces became more difficult, the younger children dropped out with the last few pieces played by some of the more senior violinists.

Athena-Mae said: “I think the [Suzuki] teachers felt honoured to be the teachers of these children who all took it seriously and tried their best, and inspired as human beings that such young people wanted to make a difference.”

To support St Albans Suzuki Group’s fundraiser for Cancer Research UK visit http://www.justgiving.com/SASG-Play-a-thon