A Carolling Christmas at Romsey Abbey

Honeypot’s Christmas Carol Concert took place once again in the historic Romsey Abbey, Hampshire, illuminated beautifully with warm lighting and the echoes of festive music from the alter. Attendees were greeted by our loveable mascot, Bumble, as they bought raffle tickets and took to their seats. Colin Hobbs acted as our MC for the night, setting the tone for the entire evening with his uplifting spirit and good humour.

This year we were joined by the Romsey Choral Society, a 40-plus choir led by Richard Pearce, who sang harmoniously to Carol of the Bells, The Snowman and other classics. We were also graced with the Romsey Youth Children’s Choir, led by Marion Maxey, who not only sang but danced with colourful props. A number of the children have benefitted from Honeypot services, which made their performance on the night all the more meaningful.

For another year, we were treated again to the musical talents of Czeckmate, performed by Veronika Weisfeitova and Graham Archer on flute and guitar respectively, who greeted people as they entered the Abbey and later performed their own set, including their mesmerizing take on Silent Night.

Our speakers for the night reminded everyone why we were all there, for our young carers. Anthony Cummings, our Director of Fundraising and Communications, kicked things off talking about another great year for the charity and what to expect in 2023.

Alex Twine, the father of nine-year-old Mia, stood up to talk about his daughter’s experiences with Honeypot and what it means for his family to have the support of our respite breaks and other services. Mia helps her parents to take care of her two brothers, Josh and Ethan, all of whom were in attendance on the night, and walked away with a giant 5-foot-tall teddy, thanks to the generosity of one of the raffle prize winners.

We also listened to the audio of Amelia Wright, another of our Honeypot children, accompanied by pictures from our respite breaks. Amelia’s words touched the audience and gave another important glimpse into the life of a young carer.

Finally, our trustee Hugh Whitaker took to the pulpit to thank all those involved in this year’s big event and extended his thanks to the attendees who joined us on the night for their generosity and continued support.

The raffle brought everyone to attention with great prizes including meals, spa breaks, theme park tickets and lots of yummy goodies – all made possible by our generous raffle prize donors.

At the end of the evening, people gathered at the refreshment table to enjoy mince pies donated by Harvest Fine Foods and grabbed a glass of prosecco donated by the local supermarkets including Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose. The community came together to catch up with friends and colleagues, reconnect with old acquaintances and meet the Honeypot team, it was a great way to end what was a splendid evening for all.

Everything on the night was made possible by our amazing sponsors and donors, all of whom we are eternally grateful for. We would like to say a huge thank you to Selwood our headline sponsor, Fairweathers, our other sponsor, Luminique for their gorgeous lighting which brought the Abbey to life, Breckenridge for designing our fantastic programmes, Minuteman Press for printing the programmes and kindly delivering them, the abbey team including Rev Lee Thompson and the tech team, Glen Jevon our talented photographer, all the performers including Paul Isted who played the piano and organ throughout the evening, and our dedicated volunteers who were on their feet for most of the night making sure everything ran smoothly. We are immensely grateful to you all.

If you missed the concert you can watch it on our YouTube.

We raised over £3,400 thanks to your generosity on the night and we are immensely grateful.

All of us at Honeypot also want to thank our sponsors, performers and businesses who helped make our carol concert a big hit! We look forward to welcoming you all back next year.