A concert in aid of the Joe Homan Charity

Friday 2 June – 7pm, Coventry Central Hall, Warwick Lane, Coventry

Tickets: £10 (Concs £8 for over 65s, under 16s and students). Ticket price includes a glass of wine or fruit juice at the interval.

Alison Stephens: Mandolin; Roman Rudnytsky: Piano; Tom Henderson: Piano Accompanist; Patricia Tatum: Soprano; Jerzy Nagorski and Ben Swoboda: Baritones

University members Jerzy Nagorski and Tom Henderson are among the musicians performing at the event.

Music teacher Patricia Tatum with Jerzy Nagorski and Ben Swoboda will be singing six of Schubert’s most beautiful songs (lieder) and four arias from Mozart’s ‘Marriage of Figaro’ and ‘Don Giovanni’, accompanied by Tom Henderson (piano). The programme will include the Don’s Serenade to Donna Elvira’s maid (Da vieni alla finestra) accompanied by mandolin, the duet sung by Don Giovanni and Zerlina (La ci darem la mano) and arias sung by Cherubino and Figaro.

The Joe Homan Charity: 41 years ago in 1965, Joe Homan gave up teaching in the UK, took £200 of his savings and returned to South India where he had seen children begging and sleeping – and dying on the streets. He borrowed a piece of wasteland and with the help of homeless lads he set up a poultry farm, 15 miles from the temple city of Madurai (Tamil Nadu state).

Today there are seven Boys Towns in South India, where boys are given a happy home and a good education. There is also a Girls Town where 60 girls are accommodated. Three Children’s Villages have been built for children too young to enter a Boys or Girls Town.

Child Labour: India has the highest incidence of child labour in the world. In Tamil Nadu there are some 70,000 children being exploited by child labour conditions. Children as young as ten can spend up to 12 hours a day working in factories. The Joe Homan Charity has a scheme for helping these vulnerable children to complete their education. For more details see the website, www.joehoman.org.uk

To buy tickets, send a cheque made out to ‘Joe Homan Support Group’ to Dr Ben Swoboda, 6 Blackthorn Close, Coventry, CV4 7DQ (together with your name and address on a stamped addressed envelope and the number of tickets you require). Tickets will then be sent back to you. Alternatively, you can send a letter and email address with your cheque, requesting email tickets be sent to you. Tickets can also be bought at the Office of the Coventry Central Methodist Hall on the 1st Floor.