Inspiring Wrexham teen holds charity fundraising concert

A local teenager has raised hundreds of pounds for charity after taking on the mammoth task of arranging and performing at a concert for the community.

14-year-old Shea from Ruabon, held the concert to help raise vital funds for overseas development charity CAFOD and its East Africa Appeal.

The evening, held at All Saints Church in Pen Y Lan, Ruabon, featured a number of songs from musicals with performances from Shea, his family and friends. He was supported by individuals and groups from the local community, including Llangollen Operatic Society and Stage 2 Stage choir, for the concert.

A total of £800 was raised for the charity as a result of the event.

Shea, who studies drama and music at his school, said: “I chose to do the concert for CAFOD and the East Africa Appeal because in school we were told about it and asked to raise as much money as we could for the cause. We learnt that £25 can save a life and so I thought about how I could help and save many lives.

“Every day I think about people who don’t have the things that I take for granted, the people who have to walk for hours and hours just to get water that is dirty, the people who don’t get to reach adulthood! This really made me feel upset and made me want to do something about it, so that’s where the idea of the concert came from.

“I would like to thank everyone in the community who helped one way or another to make the concert what it was, I really appreciate it.”

Shea’s mum, Sharon, sad: “We are really proud of him! He came home one day and said he was going to arrange a concert for the East Africa Appeal and it all took off from there. He had lots of support from everyone involved, including the parish and the Diocese of St Asaph. We’re delighted with the amount of money he raised.”

Across East Africa, millions of families face starvation because of drought, lack of food, and civil war. The UN has described this as the largest humanitarian crisis in more than 70 years.

The Disasters Emergency Committee, of which CAFOD is a member, has launched the East Africa Crisis Appeal to provide urgent supplies to the 16 million people facing severe hunger in South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya. More than 800,000 children under five are severely malnourished.

Colette Byrne, a local CAFOD representative in North Wales, added: “Organising such a successful event is such a brilliant achievement from Shea. We are so grateful that he and the choirs chose to raise money for CAFOD and the East Africa Appeal.

“What a great example he is to teenagers across North Wales.”
To find out more about the work CAFOD does and the East Africa Appeal, please visit: cafod.org.uk/eastafrica