First in-person carol concert back with a stellar line up

07 December 2022

Farm Africa's annual carol concert, A Festive Evening with Farm Africa, returned last night for its first in-person event since 2019. Held at The Church of St Martin within Ludgate in central London, it was a fantastic evening to celebrate with our supporters and thank them for their generosity.

The evening boasted a stacked line up of spectacular musical performances from Wall of Sound, Ganda Boys, London African Gospel Choir and Sarah Ndagire, alongside several inspirational addresses from Farm Africa's supporters.

Farm Africa trustee, Vicky Unwin, kindly hosted the evening and shared her recent experience of visiting Farm Africa’s regenerative agriculture project in Kenya, where she met Juliet, a farmer who is taking part in the project.

Farm Africa CEO, Dan Collison, recapped some of his recent activities at COP27 and our projects in eastern Africa, highlighting the climate crisis that farmers are facing and how the charity can help.

We were delighted to be joined by President of the NFU and Farm Africa ambassador, Minette Batters, who echoed the challenges felt by African farmers and read the poem, The Farmer by Amelia E Barr.

Chef Dennis Mwakulua generously shared his support for Farm Africa and the festive poem, Christmas in the Heart by Paul Laurence Dunbar and we were lucky enough to have Farm Africa trustee, Laketch Mikael, in from Ethiopia to give an insight into Christmas traditions in Ethiopia.

A supporter commented, “It was a great evening packed full with stories and music from Africa. The African sounds and beats of the London African Gospel Choir and Ganda Boys sounded incredible in the acoustics of the church!"

The evening also featured a raffle with an exciting range of prizes, generously donated by Kew Gardens, Imp and Maker, A Small Shop in Africa, Neal’s Yard Cheese, Pelicano Coffee, Plantura, Afrisocks and Honeywell Biscuits.

The evening then wrapped up with mulled wine and mince pies generously supplied by our partner ALDI.

Many thanks to all our speakers and choirs, to The Church of St Martin within Ludgate for hosting us, and to everyone who so generously donated to the charity's End Hunger Grow Farming matched appeal, which is raising funds to help farmers across eastern Africa regenerate their land, build climate-resilient businesses and grow more food.

Donations are being matched by a generous group of Farm Africa supporters, meaning that donations received by 31 December 2022 will be doubled, up to a total of £150,000.

If you were unable to attend A Festive Evening with Farm Africa but would like to show your support, you can make an online donation here and have your donation matched!

To enquire about the event, please contact the events team on events@farmafrica.org.