An 80-strong community choir has donated £3,000 to three charities – bringing the total it has raised to £21,000 since it was founded just four years ago.

Brian Boreham of the Felixstowe Area Community Transport Scheme (FACTS), Elaine Thomas of The Stone Project,and Ginny Idehen from Suffolk MIND received £1,000 each for their causes from the Felixstowe Community Choir.

The choir started having a raffle to help cover costs but its success means the profits from the raffle and members’ fees are all donated to charity.

Choir founder Rachel Sloane said: “We are a non-profit-making choir, run by volunteers, so any surplus funds are given to charity.

“The members decided to continue supporting local charities and, as always, voted for their favourites. It was worth keeping the total of this round of donations a secret as the look on the faces of the charity representatives, when they saw the amount, was priceless and they all said how much could be achieved by a small charity given £1,000.”

The choir meets at the Orwell Hotel, Hamilton Road, Felixstowe, on Mondays throughout the year (including Bank Holidays) and anyone over 18 is welcome to attend.

Singers pay £4 per week, and there is the charity raffle. The choir sings mainly show tunes and pop songs.

There are usually around 80 men and women attending, led by professional musician Emily Bennett.

They will be singing at the Seafarers UK concert at St John’s Church, Orwell Road, Felixstowe, on Friday, May 26.