In 2018, Choirs Against Cancer raised £2,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support. A brand new Christmas carol was made available for free and without any limitations to choirs everywhere. For Christmas 2019, the same carol has once again been chosen to represent Choirs Against Cancer to support Macmillan's amazing work.

The work is Gareth Treseder's Le sommeil de l'enfant Jésus or The sleep of the Infant Jesus. You can download the carol at his website: www.garethtreseder.com/composer/choirsagainstcancer

Using this piece, you can raise funds in whatever way is best for you and there is no minimum donation - though we’d obviously like you to be as generous as you can. Whether it be a share of your ticket sales, a bucket collection, an informal whip-round amongst choir members or just an individual donation, however large or small, every penny will help the work of Macmillan Cancer Support and – I hope – make this Christmas just a little bit brighter for people going through the trauma of cancer.

Singing new music is an exciting part of every choir’s experience and well worth the small cost of buying copies but here the music is
free so that you can support this fantastic charity at no extra cost to you or your choir, and that means more money for Macmillan! Visit their website to learn more about the work they do. http://www.macmillan.org.uk/

Here is the story behind Jamie W. Hall's Choirs Against Cancer initiative, in his words:

“In 2015 I found myself having a text conversation with a friend whose mother – a delightful nonagenarian with severe dementia – was in hospital in a really very serious condition. I remembered meeting her some time before that and her repeatedly telling me how much she loves to dance, and I found the famous Christmas carol
text "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day" going round and round my head – So much so that I set to writing my own version.

With my finished ditty in hand it didn’t feel right to simply publish it in the usual way so, on a whim and with no real plan in mind, I offered it to a few choirs for free, suggesting they might like to donate to Dementia UK in honour of my friend’s mum.

I was both stunned and gratified when the piece not only received several performances and even a radio broadcast on Christmas Day, but more importantly that it raised several hundred pounds for a deserving charity.

So when I found myself putting pen to paper again in the wake of the sudden loss of a member of my own choral society to pancreatic cancer, I decided once again to allow my latest carol to be printed and performed for free, this time in support of Macmillan Cancer Support."

So this year, please take my carol and use it however you like this Christmas 2019, remembering to visit the Just Giving page, our Twitter feed and our Facebook page.

All the best wishes, and thank you for reading!

Gareth Treseder