IN eight years of sheer hard work, organisation and hours of singing, the Chess Valley Male Voice Choir has raised more than £25,000 for charities in Amersham and Chesham.

The 40-strong army of men meet every Tuesday to practice their medley of tunes which range from grand opera, folk and Welsh hymns.

The idea was formed in September 1993 when Geoff Faulkner could no longer suffer from the 'withdrawal symptoms' of living in Chesham without a male voice choir.

He started up the choir and advertised for new members. It has since gone from strength to strength with its main aim to give people enjoyment, as well as raising money for various groups which include the 61 Youth Club in Amersham.

Chris Palmer, who lives in Amersham, is a member of the group. He said he decided to join them to have some fun.

He said: "I was working in the city and moved here because of the London Underground. I was doing executive coaching and thought I would start taking life not so seriously, so I eventually went for it.

"I had been taught to sing at school and sang in some of the school operas, but I thought I would be a bit rusty."

The group has the usual format for a male voice choir, and has two tenor parts and two bass parts, but the quality of the membership is so high that most concerts include solos from the choir members.

He added: "There are now about 45 people and a mix of ages. It is not just for older people. The youngest singer is 32.

"It is fun, we don't take ourselves so seriously that we don't enjoy it. We build up a repertoire of jazz, welsh, opera and musical and do a lot of variety."

Mr Palmer said they are supposed to practice every night, but it isn't always easy to find the time.

He said: "I sing in the shower a lot and sing in the car. And I sing while she [his wife] plays on the piano. We don't give voice testing, you don't have to have special voices when you come along."

The group is very proud of Sheila Cornall, the musical director, who Mr Palmer says they are fortunate to have.

He added: "She is head of music at Wycombe High and did a lot for several local orchestras. We are quite fortunate to have a woman. It means we are better behaved.

"We never get nervous, but the director of music could be nervous on our behalf. She is so good and has a great deal of presence, she's so confident."

He also added that they have guest artists, including Mrs Cornall's daughter, Fiona who is a gifted violinist from the Purcell School of Music in Bushey, Watford.

Mr Palmer said they have concentrated on the Chesham and Amersham area but have gone as far as High Wycombe and sang in the Albert Hall as part of a mass choir. They also go on trips to other countries.

He said: "Our first trip was to Prague and we sang in three concerts and everyone loved it. I just thought it was brilliant and we are planning a trip to Belgium and trying to do a trip abroad every year.

"Next year we are invited to Bensheim at the end of August.

"We have a few guests come along, we call them groupies, they come along to concerts, so in total there will be 80 of us going.

"We want to grow to about 60 strong from our maximum of 45. We are looking for second tenors and first basses. We get more people to join by local concerts and people come along to see us and we get a few new members."

If you would like to join the Chess Valley Male Voice Choir contact Chris Palmer on 01494 722865.