SINGERS lip-syncing to the Queen hit ‘Somebody to Love’ while confined to their homes have so far raised more than £2,000 for Martin House Hospice.

Having chosen the children’s hospice at Boston Spa as its charity for the year, and after having raised £1,500 at its first concert of the year in early March, Voices of Yorkshire was then faced with having to cancel all its events because of the coronavirus crisis.

But, mindful of the impact of the coronavirus on the charity sector, its members, who hail from both North and West Yorkshire, decided to do what they could to continue helping the hospice - and came up with the idea of recording a version of the much loved Queen hit and sharing it on YouTube.

“While we were lucky enough to kickstart our fundraising campaign with a £1,500 donation before the lockdown began in March, this was only going to be the tip of the iceberg with 15 public appearances already confirmed throughout 2020 and many more to follow, “ said member, Sally Lawrence.

“Thanks to the genius and painstaking efforts of one of our singers Kelly Parker, we are able to present our version of Queen’s Somebody To Love in all of its lip syncing glory.

“ With 100 or so of our 350 members donning their Voices of Yorkshire T-shirts and performing to the multitude of crazy harmonies that Voices of Yorkshire’s versions have become known for, we hope people will support us to support Martin House with a donation. Every penny will be used to support children and young people, and their families, with life limiting conditions across Yorkshire.”

Members of Voices of Yorkshire’s four choirs - Skipton, Bingley, Oakworth and Silsden - recorded themselves lip-syncing in their own homes, many sporting lead singer Freddie Mercury moustaches, with choir leader, Nick Ingram - the singing voice of children’s favourite, Bob the Builder, doing the actual singing.

Just over an hour of the video going live, it smashed through the choir’s fundraising target of £250, raising more than £2,000, and by earlier this week had been viewed around 2,000 times.

Donations can be made on Voices to Yorkshire’s JustGiving fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/voy?fbclid=IwAR16b0ZuI7hraFu2IY4v0otcEX__UOtoVONlUTFEzuxXGyfvW4J930wCGiM