Appearances - 2024

Were you there? - have you got any comments or pickies for any of the appearances below? if so, please let us know using WUC FaceBook

Well there you have it... our last busk for all the lovely folks at Spectrum Days.

Firstly, huge thanks to everyone who came along to support the Club in this buskathon.  With just a week to go we were quite low on numbers, but - as always - many answered the call that went out. Brilliant!  The result was that around 25 of us turned up.  I arrived at the old Debenhams store at around 9:55 to set up, and found Ian L (who played bass for most of the day) had got there before me. I found him chatting to a small group of Jehovah's Witnesses who were intending to set up stall in the same spot.  We had a nice friendly chat and they happily volunteered to set up 20 yards further down the road.  (One of the JW's - the Scottish one, I think - is a bagpipe player.  I can feel a joint concert coming on! )

The weather would have been described by the bagpipe-playing Scottish JW as "dreich", which is Scottish for foggy, damp and freezing cold!  However, we didn't let that daunt us in the slightest and we launched into two-and-a-half hours of singing.  At first, to be honest, there weren't many people about.  Perhaps they were all 'shopped-out' so soon after Christmas; perhaps they were put off by the "dreich" day.  No worries, though, as the town centre got busier and busier as time passed by.  They certainly kept our bucketeers busy.  On buckets were Kate the Bucket and Rob (?) who were joined for the day by Anwen and Maggie from Spectrum Days.

The plan of players turning up when they could and staying as long as they could worked well.  Individual players would quietly pack away and slip off while the rest of us were mid-song, and others would slip in to take their places.  After one song, as we were taking  a few minutes to regroup, we were approached by a young lad, George, who asked if we had finished.  He said that he hoped we hadn't, as he wanted to sing a song with us.  We quickly found a suitable song, George took the mike and belted out a cracking performance of Rocking Around The Christmas Tree!  Nice one, George! 

We did have a bit of a break for loo visits, cups of tea (not necessarily in that order) and cakes provided by Anwen and Maggie, starting up again at around 1:30.  There were fewer of us in the last couple of hours of the gig,  However, we didn't let that daunt us and we gave it our all until our licence expired at 3:00.  Ian L had a rest from bass for a while, but his place was filled by Phil E.  My voice gave up the ghost at about 2:15, though, and I am indebted to Allan C for stepping up to lead for the last 45 mins.

After the buskathon came the countathon - and it took ages!  There were around 2,500 coins in the buckets, only four of which were foreign!  There was £115 in notes, and £268 in £1 coins! The total was £551.54:  a brilliant result, thanks to the fine efforts of the Wuccies.  Whether they were there from the bitter start to the the bitterer end or came and joined in for an hour or so, my sincere thanks to them all.  Between songs, I spoke about the charity and said that we were hoping to crack the £15k mark.  Well, we did it.  A sneak preview of the financial report for the AGM tells me that we collected the grand total of £15,250 for SD!

Cheers, Trevor

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20/12/24 Park Heath Social Club

Hi all, There were 10 of us turned up to the Park Heath Social Club event in Hallow on Wednesday, and I'm pretty sure I can speak for all of us when I say that it was a really enjoyable  gig. The audience were - as ever at Park Heath - lively and up for it and a great time was had by all, singing along and playing the various percussion instruments.  We had a break half way through, during which we were treated to a fine spread and a cup of tea!  Perfect!
The mix of Christmas songs and good old classics was well received, and we received, in return, a gig fee of £75.00 and £47.96 in the bucket. Result!
Many, many thanks to the 10 Wuccies for their individual contributions to a lovely, successful afternoon. Cheers Trevor

19/12/24 Welland House

HI all, Because of space limitations, there were only 7 of us at the gig at Welland House Care Centre on Thursday 19th December... but I think we'd have some justification in calling ourselves the Magnificent Seven!   We were made most welcome, as always, with a special, personal greeting from Gary, who also sends Christmas greetings to any other Wuccies who remember him from previous gigs at Welland.  His Christmas activities are somewhat curtailed this year, as he broke his ankle couple of weeks ago and is in a big surgical boot for the foreseeable future.  Get well soon, Gary! We  did a one hour set, comprising a few songs that have gone down well at Welland before, a few 'new' (to Welland) songs and a couple we've not done on any gigs before.  And, of course, there were the Christmas songs. The hour flew by and soon it was time for what has now become a Welland/WUC tradition.  Gary brought the house down again with his solo rendition of 'You'll Never Walk Alone'.  Given his restricted mobility, I took the music and my uke over to him to accompany him.  Once he had finished and the tumultuous applause had died down, I was about to make my way back to the rest of the group, when one of the carers tapped me on the shoulder and asked if another of the residents - I think her name is June - could sing a solo.  Yes, please!!!  I found the song sheet, and June and her carer, who both had voices like angels. did a fantastic performance of 'Silent Night'.  Wonderful!  It was a hard act to follow, but we finished of by wishing everyone there a Happy Christmas (in return for some figgy pudding, of course!), bade them all farewell and promised to be back again in April next year.

Many, many thanks to the Magnificent Seven (three of whom had had to cross the Magnificent Severn to get there) for making it a lovely afternoon.
This is not the sort of place where a collection bucket is appropriate, but a gig fee of £80.00 will be landing in our account any time soon!

There is just one photo, courtesy of Gabrielle, of new-found singing sensation June (and her backing group!)

​Cheers, Trevor

15/12/24 Malvern Morrisons

Hello wuccies, Thank you to everyone who played at the gig at Morrisons in Malvern today. A lovely warm gig inside the store. We were asked to set up at the store exit near the tills which we initially thought was a bad idea as all the shoppers would have spent their hard earned cash by the time they got to us. How wrong we were. After two hours playing we had collected a whopping £283.11, which is amazing! There were also a few who used the QR reader so there maybe more money to follow. It was a thoroughly enjoyable morning with dancing and clapping along and lots of positive comments at the end.

Thanks again to everyone who took part for your enthusiasm, energy and most of all your smiley faces. See you all tomorrow night!

Cheers, Nick

13/12/24 Handmade in Hallow

Hi all, Basically, I think we all do these gigs because we enjoy doing them.  We enjoy meeting up with a bunch of friends to play the ukulele and sing a few favourite songs to an audience that is enjoying our performance and joining in.  These are the ingredients of the perfect gig - or metaphorical cake.  The icing on that cake is a good gig fee and collection for our charity… and the cherry on the icing of the cake is a good spread of refreshments for us at half time!  Well, at the risk of mixing metaphors, our ducks were certainly all lined up perfectly in a dead-straight row at the Hand Made In Hallow gig today. . I really enjoyed that gig! 

Huge thanks to the 9 Wuccies, who played an absolute blinder this afternoon! Huge thanks to the audience who engaged with us so well and who joined in with the singing, as the percussion section and with the general banter! Huge thanks to the organisers for the tea, sandwiches and cake! Finally, huge thanks to everyone for the £75.00 gig fee and the magnificent collection of £50.96. What an afternoon! 

​Cheers, Trevor

10/12/24 Kingfisher Court Xmas Party

Hi Everyone, A quick note to acknowledge a super evening at The Kingfisher Court Residential Home supporting WUC and Spectrum Days to our best ability. I received a bit of video and a thank you from the organiser  from which I quote. , "A very merry Christmas to you all too and thank you again for a wonderful evening.”

So from the photo - David (left arm!), John Hi, Brian, Shirley, Maureen, Jean, Ian,  John Ma, Liz, Martin S, Jan W a very big thank you for your support for the club and charity. I spoke at length about Spectrum Days and it must have struck a chord because there was £93.22 in the bucket to add to the fee of £150. A good night indeed.

Regards, John (Super gig, super sound, super band!!)

06/12/24 Hampton Social Club

Hi Everyone, Just a quick note to thank the plucky Wuccies who braved the beginning of the storm to perform on your behalf at the Hampton Social Club. We played a real  mix of Christmas standards, some more adventurous Christmas and non Christmas pop that went down extremely well with a relatively small crowd, one of whom played the snow bells all the way through. Nonetheless professionalism shone through! You can see it in Jean’s face!! Bucket and fee meant that just under £140 went to our charity. So well done all and thanks again. Regards, John

05/12/24 Ex Rotarians', Mount Battenhall

Hi all, Many thanks to the the 12 Wuccies who went to play at the Ex-Rotarians gig at Mount Battenhall this afternoon.  Mount Battenhall is an impressive building to play in, so we had to be on our best behaviour.  The result was that we had… a great time, and - more importantly - so did the audience, with some of the best participation I’ve witnessed for a long time.  As we told them at the end, we would happily take them on tour with us, any time!. We played two  45-minute sets (although the first set became an hour!) comprising a mix of Christmassy and non-Christmassy songs.  We included lots of songs that we don’t often play at gigs, although they are in the gig book.  We got lots of very positive feedback at the end, and - in addition to the £100.00 gig fee - we also got the magnificent sum of £140.30 in the bucket.  Many thanks to the Ex-Rotarians for their generosity, and many thanks to the Wuccies for contributing to a brilliant afternoon.
Unfortunately, there is no photo, so if you want to know just how impressive the building is, sign up for our next visit there: we’ve been assured that we will be invited back!

Cheers, Trevor

Website editor's note: ...or to check it out virtually, click the link: here!

04/12/24 Fernhill House Care Home

Hi, all, Just a quick “thank you” to a great band of players who turned out to Fernhill House Care Home’s Elf Day this afternoon. The home was beautifully decorated for Christmas, with a huge tree  taking the space we usually stand in. We had an audience in front of us and Dave and Dave, (S and H) turned round and played to the small audience who were behind us. We played a mixture of songs, some not usually on our set list, and they were all well received. We were joined by singers and jinglers and even a dancer or two! No photos, though,  sorry! A gig fee of £80.00 will soon be landing in our account!

The next comment (specifically from Elaine) will only make sense to those there but…

‘I got the power!’

Thanks again, Elaine and Trevor

01/12/24 Xmas Markets - Cathedral Square

Hi All, Well, it was a hard act to follow on the main stage at....  No!  I've used that opening twice before, so I'll think of something else.  Mind you, the 'I Sing Choir' were a hard act to follow, having sung magnificently, but we did our best and I don't think we disappointed.  Again, we were a little delayed in getting started, but we managed to get through most of our mix of Christmassy and non-Christmassy songs.  The crowd was not as big as yesterday, but there was lots of passing footfall, and many, many people stuck around for a song or two - some staying for the whole set.  We had two bucketeers - Sylvia and Rob - roaming free on Cathedral Square, but we kept Rosemary-Rudolph behind the fence, where she engaged with a whole host of little children. Many thanks to all three bucketeers for their sterling work
 
We had a laugh; we all sang Jingle Bells in the same key; we had a lot of joining in from the audience, especially with that Christmas classic, Delilah;  we wished Feliz Navidad to a group of young Spanish tourists who stayed a while to clap and dance along with us. All too soon our allotted time was nearing its end and the Sound Engineer in Chief asked us to do one more. As we were the last act on in the whole Christmas Fayre, (does that make us bill-toppers or concert-killers?) the sound crew were eager to pack up and get home. However, we begged for the opportunity to do two songs, as we had had to wait for the huge choir to clear before we could get on stage, and, what with it being Christmas, he agreed, if the songs weren't too long.  We told him we'd finish with American Pie and Bohemian Rhapsody!  We actually finished with "The Calypso Carol" and "We Wish You A Merry Christmas", having been counted in by a classically trained musician who was stood at the front of the crowd. Another hugely enjoyable gig!  Many thanks to everyone who helped make it so.

Oh... and the money raised!  I almost forgot.  The big count-up of the cash revealed  £133.49.  This brings the total raised over all five Christmas Fayre gigs (four in Worcester and one in Malvern) to a magnificent £535.07.

Many thanks to everyone who has taken part in whatever way.  I think we all need a bit of a rest, now!

Thanks to Peter G for the photos.

Cheers Elaine and Trevor

30/11/24 Bromyard Children In Need

Hi all. Pudsey bear made his probably final appearance of this year at last night's gig at the Falcon Mews in Bromyard (a nice venue BTW). A small but enthusiastic band played for a small but equally enthusiastic audience. Having established that we were able to deliver a personal service, we (and I think), the audience had a thoroughly enjoyable time singing along to a load of golden oldies (us, the audience and the songs!). Technically, it wasn't our greatest performance (e.g. run down in "These Boots".... practice lads!) but the important thing is that the audience really seemed to enjoy it and I think that we did too. I hope that Ken will let us know the takings for Children in Need and the Bromyard Scouts in due course. Thanks again to all, Allan. (ps., Elaine who co-lead may want to add a comment. I see also, that she has sent out the Charity election details, so make sure you vote!). 

30/11/24 Xmas Markets - Malvern

Hi all, Well, we had a hard act to follow at the Malvern Christmas Market in the Priory grounds this afternoon: a group of guitar-playing and singing young ladies from Malvern St James Girls' School.  Nonetheless, we bit the bullet and got stuck in... and had a real blast!  The weather was lovely, the people were lovely, and the whole experience was lovely.  It's what we play the ukulele for!  We attracted lots and lots of young fans, who danced and played (with) the percussion instruments with great relish amd rhythm. At times it was more like a Crechemas Market than a Christmas Market, but it was a real joy to behold. We pressed three chairs into service as bucketeers. To be honest, they didn't dance around as much as our regular bucketeers do, and they certainly clocked up nowhere near the 25,000 steps that Rosemary and Anne do during our playing of "These Boots Were Made For Walking", but they were successful in collecting the magnificent sum of £86.23.  Many, many thanks to the wonderful Malvern market-goers for their generosity and many thanks to the the Wuccies  for all they did to help make it such a pleasurable gig. Photo courtesy of Peter G... who, of course, is not on the photo! Cheers, Elaine and Trevor

30/11/24 Xmas Markets - Cathedral Square

Hi all,
Well, we had a hard act to follow on the Main Stage at the Victorian Christmas Fayre this evening: the Jay Boys!  Nonetheless, we bit the bullet and got stuck in... and had a real blast!  The crowd was huge, and they were obviously out to have a good time, which they certainly seemed to manage to do.  There was some enormous singing along - with the mass choruses of "Well,. I wish it could be Christmas every day" and "Why, why, why Delilah?" still ringing in our ears.  We also managed to find our backing/dancing troupe to take with us when we FINALLY get the invitation to Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage, next year.  Thanks, girls!  You were awesome!
The sheer size and density of the crowd made it hard to get round with a bucket, although Elaine and Jane both gave it their best shot.  Instead, we attached the buckets to the fence with cable ties, which, again, wasn't perfect, as they were hard to get to unless you were stood right at the front.  Consequently, we weren't expecting a huge amount in the collection, but were very pleasantly surprised at the £85.42 that we got!  However, the lasting memory will be of a hugely enjoyable gig with lots of fun and laughter.  Many thanks to the great folk of Worcester for their sense of fun and their generosity, and to the comparatively small number of Wuccies who put their all into making it a great night. Photos courtesy of Peter G. Cheers, Trevor and Elaine

29/11/24 Xmas Markets - Cathedral Square

Hi all, Once again, a huge 'THANK YOU' to the Wuccies who came to play at Cathedral Square this afternoon.  We were a little delayed in getting started, as the sound engineer had a few problems with his system, but he eventually sorted out his loose connections and we soon got going and got into our stride, playing our mix of Christmas and non-Christmas songs for about 40 minutes.  Our pet reindeer were on form, engaging with young and old alike and a good crowd joined in with singing and dancing to  a lot of our songs.  As ever, it was great fun... and successful!  The "Penny in your pocket? Chuck it in a bucket!" mantra worked its magic on the great people of - or in - Worcester, who did just that!  There was a magnificent £141.58 in the bucket, which is now banked.  Many, many thanks to all who played and sang so well.  Two gigs down; two to go!  Thanks to Anne T, Steve C and Peter G for the photos.

28/11/24 Xmas Markets - Bell Square

Hi all, Many thanks to the Wuccies who came to join in with the first of our 4 Victorian Christmas Fayre gigs in Bell Square yesterday.  We arrived - as ever - in plenty of time and set ourselves up in the doorway of the old Debenhams store, which has the benefit of a power supply but the drawback of being very close to the huge electrical music box with dancing model reindeer (we did ask if it could be turned off, but apparently it couldn't.  Never mind!) We were delighted to be joined by Santa himself, who popped along to wish us well.  We got started - with our real-life dancing reindeer - and worked our way through our Christmas programme.  To be honest, it was a bit quiet!  i think only 7 people walked past during our hour's playing, and two of them were Crowngate cleaners, so I didn't expect the counting of the cash in the buckets to take very long.  However, I was amazed and delighted to find £89.35 in there. which has now been banked and will soon be on its way to Spectrum Days.  A cracking result, I thought, given the lack of footfall and the competition from the mechanical reindeer bank!  Well done, everyone... and thank you! Pictures courtesy of Anne T and Geoff H

20/11/24 Meadow Court Christmas Party

Hello All, Quick thank you to the eleven players who donned Christmas gear this afternoon (flashing or otherwise), to entertain the residents of Meadow Court. They were a good lot who sang and rattled well to all our songs. Delilah has never had such a chorus of evil laughs before. All that while they were eating mince pies! There was only Jane and I to sing the ladies' part in Happy Together so Dave Sanderson aka Davina joined us, and did a good job.

We collected  £51.61 in the bucket so together with the gig fee, Spectrum Days are £126.61 better off.

Thanks again Elaine and Trevor

15/11/24 Children In Need Buskathon

Great moves from Pudsey and helpers! Great energy, smiles and playing showed WUC in a happy light!  Thank You!, John Hi, Colin the Younger and John He

Hi Everyone,
Wait for it….. we are actually on £19,877!
Well Done Wuccies indeed!
Rosemary x

13/11/24 Stan's Birthday Party at the Dementia Cafe

Hi Everyone, It was an absolute pleasure for WUC to play at Stan's birthday party today at the Dementia Cafe at Worcester Rugby Football Club. Stan is someone many of us know from St Paul’s, Worcester and a big fan of WUC generally. For the third time we got the call to help him enjoy the occasion. It turned out to be happy gathering of friends in the midst of a regular dementia cafe meeting run by the Worcester Warriors Foundation. I am pleased to say that the WUCCIES played and sang well, people danced and played the percussion we took. The reward for all these efforts was some excellent cake, mostly made by Stan’s daughter Bev. Click here to see a little more on Facebook where you will see Stan the Lead Singer! Fee and bucket gave another £75 to Spectrum Days topping off a very smiley, friendly occasion. Well done all. John

7/11/24 St Joseph's Thursday Group

Hi all,

​Well, the weather was in a more cooperative mood today than it was for our last visit to the Thursday Group at St Joseph's Church, Malvern, when Storm Ciaran persuaded many of the members to stay at home.  Today, we were welcomed by an almost full house of around 20 members, who played percussion and sang along with our set of 18 songs... plus the extra 'When I'm Cleaning Windows', as per the special request from one of the audience, when we thought it was all over!  We all had a great time and the hour seemed to fly past.  Then came the tea and cakes!  Can an afternoon possibly be any better?

Many thanks to the nine Wuccies who sang and played together so well, From where I was standing, we sounded really good, with lots of harmonies and some different strumming patterns clearly audible in every song.  Huge thanks, also,  to the Thursday Group members for their warm welcome, their enthusiastic participation and their generosity.  I have just banked the contents of the collection bucket:- £83.09 . Brilliant!
Cheers, Trevor
​
PS  Thanks to Thursday Group leader, Di, for taking the photograph.

25/10/24 Worcester Wheels Friendship Hub

Hi all, We may not have been great in number, but the 8 of us who met at the Worcester Wheels Friendship Group party at their hub in Checketts Lane were most certainly great in spirit and enthusiasm.  We enjoyed a really warm welcome from the staff and members, and we had a real ball playing for around 80 minutes.  There was lots of dancing from the audience, as well as lots of joining in.  We had taken printed sheets with the lyrics of several of our songs with us, and the audience sang along.  We had two guest appearances: Stan - a great friend of WUC - asked if we could do "You Are My Sunshine" and we were happy to oblige. We found the sheet, and Stan came up and led us in singing it.  We were also joined in singing "Teddy Bear" by the actual... Teddy Bear (See photo!).  What an honour!!

All 8 Wuccies 'played a blinder' - not even missing a beat when someone (I won't say who, because I'd just embarrass myself!) managed somehow to slip in an extra, phantom chorus in "Enjoy Yourself"!  Well done and huge thanks to you all.  We got lots of lovely feedback from everyone at the end, and their appreciation was also shown in the collection bucket, which yielded £47.61 - brilliant!  Together with the gig fee of £50.00, our Spectrum Days fund is now £97.61 better off than it was this morning! Cheers Trevor

22/10/24 Evesham Pensioners

After a bit of a mix-up with dates caused by the fact that there were 5 Tuesdays in October 2024, a group of 10 Wuccies turned up on Tuesday 22nd in the grandeur of Evesham Town Hall to entertain the Evesham Pensioners Club. Evesham Town Hall is a magnificent setting with great acoustics, (which is just as well, as the amp packed up for a while.  Good job Elaine and I have big gobs!) The magnificence of the Hall was dwarfed, however, by that of the crowd. Three of us Wuccies had brought along a bag of percussion instruments - enough for each member of the audience to have something to shake or rattle.  And they weren't afraid to use them!  We all had a great time, with everyone singing along for just over an hour.  The organiser was delighted with the way things went.  There was a gig fee of £50, and the Spectrum Days bucket did the rounds of the tables, yielding a further £53.42, making a total of £103.42 for the charity fund. A terrific result!  A huge thank you to all the Wuccies who took part and, of course, to the Evesham Pensioners for their warm welcome and their generosity. 
I think Geoff’s picture perfectly proves the point about the grandeur of the setting for our gig at Evesham Town Hall yesterday! Trevor

22/10/24 Saltmarshe Gig

A week ago, Jo at Saltmarshe entertainments contacted me with apologies for short notice. She was throwing a party for  Debbie, one of her regulars,  to celebrate her 60th birthday. Could we get a band together? Well, no sooner had I put the Muzodo out than it was fallen on like a tin of clubnight biscuits and in no time at all, a band had materialised. So thanks to the band for turning out, especially as it was the second gig of the day for some of them. But even more and bigger thanks for their splendid performance which went down very well with the partygoers. Trev explained about Spectrum Days and our charity efforts and a bucket was passed around. When the contents were later examined, it was found to contain £106.99 which when added to the £75 gig fee, made £181.99. So thanks again to everybody and very well done. Allan. 

Jo, the organizer says to us. "Brilliant, thank you. Debbie (the birthday girl) had a great night". So thanks again to the band who turned out at short notice. Allan. 

17/10/24 St Paul's Church Friendship and Lunch Club

Hi Everyone, Twenty Wuccies went to St Paul’s today. Many of you have played there before and it was a pleasure to represent the club again and promote our charity support for Spectrum Days. The photo below identifies the guilty parties before we started playing and the audience, as well, waiting for us to make some noise! Anyway noise was made very well indeed. Some danced, many sang and bashed percussion bits and pieces. Stan got up and sang his favourite ‘You Are My Sunshine’. A request from David was for a George Formby song ‘When I’m Cleaning Winders’ (Jean’s northern pronunciation!) and these professional folk opened their WUC portfolios, blew off the dust and found it! Big thanks to Ian (bass) and Shirley for making a great rhythm section. Jo reminded me that this was the first anniversary of gigging with WUC, well done! There could be loads more but the key is, as ever, that there was fun and smiles. It wasn’t work, it was an absolute pleasure! Ooh mustn’t forget that Spectrum Days will benefit by £138.55 including £50 gig fee and the bucket! As ever thanks to all that gave their time and expertise to make such a happy gig! Regards John

13/10/24 Teme Valley Market

Hi everyone, Well it was a chilly morning this morning but we soon warmed up with our two sets at the Teme Valley market. Thank you to all the Wuccies who turned out on such a cold and grey October Sunday and apologies for including a couple of songs with tricky chords. It was a morning well spent though with a gig fee of £75.00 and a bucket collection of £107.44 giving a grand total of £182.44 for our charity. Also a lot of stall holders commented on how good we sounded and I can only agree with them!
Apologies for not getting us all a free pork bap…..I thought after a rendition of “hey good looking’” it would have been guaranteed!

Thanks again everyone, Nick

Photo courtesy of Geoff.

05/10/24 Great Malvern Arts Market

We had a great time playing and singing at the Great Malvern Arts Market, held in the Priory grounds this morning.  The weather was lovely; the setting was lovely; and we weren't too shabby, either!  We were allotted a space in a small parking area.  Two of the parking bays were marked "RESERVED", so we set up there, even though 'reserved' is not the first adjective I would choose to describe us!  We played for 2 hours to a very appreciative audience.  There was lots of joining in from the children passing by, with highlights being the jingle-bell ringing and pram-dance from the young lad early on, and the tambourine playing and dancing from the young girl at the end. In fact, we did three repeats of the last verse of Da Do Ron Ron just so we could enjoy more of her dancing and playing!  Joan and her husband, Peter, stayed in Malvern after we'd finished, to eat.  Joan reports that, walking through Malvern and in the café, they were approached on two separate occasions by people who said how much they'd enjoyed our playing, and asking her to pass on their thanks and congratulations. As well as being very enjoyable, the gig was also financially successful.  After counting the cash, (which consisted entirely of notes and coins of the realm - no foreign coins and no supermarket trolley tokens at all!) I banked the very impressive total of £140.02.  Result! 

Huge thanks to the 20 Wuccies who did so well in making the gig so enjoyable and so successful.  Thanks, also, to Geoff for the photos. Cheers Trevor

02/10/24 St Andrew's Centre Pershore Lunch Club

Hi Everyone, Just a brief, hyperbole free, report on the gig yesterday. A marvellous group of Wuccies played consumately yet again for the Lunch Club who know us so well. Brilliantly together, the group made sure our superb reputation was maintained. There was singing and bashing of percussion by the audience and the fun was rounded off when David H and Terry ‘kept on running’ round the room during the last number! £75 fee and £60.94 in the bucket capped the whole thing off rather splendidly before lunch was served. Apologies for the picture! The outward appearance of happiness and togetherness was, of course, a break with tradition. On a serious note it was good to have Martin lead a couple of songs, have Jane join us from ‘Crookbarrow’, have solid rhythm from Phil and Shirley plus Colin H, Dave Su and others travel far from the west! Thanks all. Regards John

28/09/24 Maggs Busk - Worcester High Street

Hi, What a blast we had today busking for Maggs in Worcester City Centre!
The music flowed seamlessly led by Trev and also helped along by lots of children on and off who became our “Sunflower Band” with their tambourines and rattlers, they were a delight, especially Daisy, Nancy and Lily! Kate the Bucket did what she does so well meandering among the crowds gently swinging her bucket, very grateful of her time.
Thanks to everyone who played today, it was a chilly start, just ten of us this afternoon; but that was fine we made ourselves heard! Trev will let you know the total raised hopefully maybe tonight if he has any energy left! Some of the money raised will go to creating a “Cosy Corner” in the Clothing Project where service users can chat to staff in a comfortable and private setting and maybe some shelves.

Hi all,
Can I reiterate Rosemary’s thanks to everyone who contributed to a hugely successful session spent strumming and singing on a super, sunny September Saturday.  It really was most enjoyable, with lots of interaction from the great folk of Worcester, and - more importantly - lots of donations from them. I have just finished the post-Buskathon Countathon, and I am delighted to report that there was the really impressive total of £419.16 in the buckets, which will shortly be wending it’s way into the club account, and from there to MAGGS.  Many thanks and WELL-DONE! to everyone involved. Cheers Trevor

21/09/24 St Stephen's Church Fete

Hi all. Many thanks to the splendid band who played at St Stephens Church fete today. Everyone (band and audience) gave a really good impression of enjoying themselves and there was plenty of entertaining banter between the excellent singing and playing. Although there was a little bit of rain, it never became torrential so we must be thankful for that. Special thanks to Kate who came to shake the buckets for Spectrum Days. The gig fee was £75 which the vicar gave us before the performance....there's confidence for you! Trev. will be counting the bucket collection and I am sure that he'll let us know the proceeds. Thanks again. Allan.

A supplementary! Trev has just this minute phoned me to say that there was £26.69 in the bucket, (total £101.69) for the gig so thanks  for doing the collection Kate. Best wishes, Allan. 

09/09/24 Oddfellows Society St Mark's Church

Hi All, Many thanks to the terrific team of ten who tackled the tortuous traffic detours to play for the Oddfellows Society at St Mark's Church Hall on Monday 9th September.  The Oddfellows Society are a great bunch of people, and we were made most welcome again, on what I believe was our third visit.  We played two sets - having first taken a solemn vow not to perform anything that had been written this millennium - with a break for yummy tea, sandwiches and cake in between.  They were a really receptive audience, happily joining in with the singing and the percussion, and there was even a bit of dancing went on.  The whole event was great fun, and Serena, the organiser, was delighted with the way things went.  As well as the £75.00 gig fee, the members contributed a further £47.50 to Spectrum Days via our bucket, giving a total of £122.50.  Huge thanks, again, to everyone who helped to make it a great afternoon. Photos courtesy of Geoff. Cheers Trevor

07/09/24 Alfrick and Lulsley Show

Hi Everyone, Well here we WUC Loyalists were in Malvern Wells and gratifyingly the weather stayed kind and the Fete proceeded with some sunshine and lots of smiles. The annual competition with Marilyn the announcer took on a new dimension as she has become Mayor in the meantime and, armed with the Mayoral chain, it seemed wise to say yes to everything, so we played at the beginning and the END. Nonetheless the group gave a splendid performance on both occasions. Driven by a superb ‘engine room’ of Ian on bass and, ’friend of WUC’, Yvonne bashing everything in sight. The time flew by with only Marilyn off-loading announcing duties to me to punctuate the music, while she ‘mayorally’ flowed from place to place. Actually she was a great sport and is a good friend to the group. The dog-show and the sack race made it all seem so normal English village, not to mention the vintage cars and donkeys! I could do the usual about people dancing etc but I think of more note was the coordinated dancing of Shirley and Brian who seemed to be in ‘Strictly’ mode. Great to see. Now here's for the ‘without whom section’! Bev, Jean, Peter G, Frank (box step), Davids Su and H, Barb (bucket), Jane, local Colin H and Colin the Younger all ‘plugged in’ and added to the musical feast on offer. Together we raised for SPECTRUM DAYS in total £197.28, which only rounded off a really super afternoon. Regards John

07/09/24 Bromyard Folk Festival

Morning All, A big thank you to all those who turned out for Bromyard. Weather was a bit wet later on but that's festivals for you - a dry warm Friday night, followed by a torrential Saturday evening.

The two gigs in the bar - 14:30 and the 21:00 were well attended but it wasn't necessarily WUC they wanted but the 'fruit of the barley' so in the evening it was pretty hard work.
The afternoon gig did in fact have more players since this event always attracts players from the festival clientele and we must have had 25 or so playing.
Very nice comments from some of those who attended the workshop re: the help they received from WUC buddies.
And in addition appreciative comments from those who came to listen, evening and afternoon.
Our appearances are looked for by a small number of devotees and I'd say given the reaction of some of the clientele in the bar enjoyed by all even if only in passing. 
​
Thanks again.

Tom

07/09/24 Alfrick and Lulsley Show

Many thanks to the band who sang and played very well at the Alfrick and Lulsley show today. The weather was pretty vile but we rose above it, metaphorically speaking. The 2 photos show the 2 members of our audience who sat through our entire second set.....they had studied the weather forecast! One pic also shows Peter B's  dog who was Trev's guest while Peter was away! Charity buckets were not allowed as the show donates to other local charities but we will get our cut for Spectrum days in due course. Thanks again to all who played and especially to Geoff who resisted pleas from the National Trust to help out at an open day and chose to play with us instead. Allan. ps. Note also that the ice cream van continues to do business whatever the weather!

01/09/24 Newton Green Community Group

Hi all,  Well, I think we saw WUC ant its best today!  Just a few days ago there were only five signed up for this gig and cancellation was on the cards. Then the email went out, asking for support, and… wow!  What a response!  A huge thank you to the 15 Wuccies who answered the call and who played and sang so well!  Another indication of the best that WUC can be was the gusto and enthusiasm with which we played, despite the audience being co small.  We played for an hour as the filling in a sandwich with two slices of the excellent guitarist/singer Kelvin either side of us.  He sat and listened throughout our set. When we had finished our set - with a rousing rendition of ‘Sweet Caroline’ - and were packing away, he came and thanked me for a fun set, then told me that the first song on his list for his second set was ‘Sweet Caroline’! . Those of us who were at the Spectrum Days gig last month will know how he feels!

Anyway, speaking of Spectrum Days, they will be £90.77 better off as a result of today, with a £75.00 gig fee and £15.77 in the bucket. It was also great fun!  Many thanks, again, to all who played. Cheers Trevor

31/08/24 Regent Residential Care Home

Hi all, Many thanks to the 15 Wuccies who drove into the heart of Worcester - St John’s - this afternoon to play at the Garden Party put on for the residents of Regent Residential Care Home and their families. This was the third or fourth time we had played at Regent and it was every bit as much fun as all the previous occasions were.  Although the original booking had been for two half-hour sets, with a half-hour break between, we found, on arrival, that the timings for the afternoon had been revised. The bottom line was that we did a straight one hour set, accompanied by lots of joining in, lots of percussion and some fancy footwork on the dance floor from people at both ends of the age spectrum.  It was, as always, a lovely atmosphere at Regent! We got lots of lovely comments at the end, the loveliest of which was being asked when we can go again. We also got  a £75.00 gig fee, plus a donation of £1.50 from one of the residents. A great afternoon, I thought!  Many, many thanks again to all those Wuccies who gave their time to help make it so! Cheers Trevor

24/08/24 Bilford Court

Hi all, Today was the day that Bilford Court Retirement Village in Worcester planned to hold a barbecue and social gathering - with raffle - to raise funds for WUC's charity, Spectrum Days. 12 of us had put our names down on Muzodo to play for an hour, outside in the garden, with the wafted scent of hamburgers and hotdogs to keep us going.  So, the first thing I did on getting out of bed this morning was to peek through the curtains at the weather.  Doh!  Bank Holiday weekend, therefore rain!  Never mind.  The event went ahead anyway, although it moved inside... and what a splendid event it was.  We last played there on 24th July, (we had to move inside to avoid the rain on that day as well!) when we supported them in raising funds for their Christmas festivities, so we knew what to expect.  They didn't let us down!  The twelve Wuccies sang, played  and even danced brilliantly for just over an hour accompanied by lots of joining in, percussion playing and dancing from a very appreciative audience. I'm sure they especially appreciated the Frankie Vaughan-style high-kicking antics of the Frantic Four during our performance of  Green Door (see photo! And I bet Tesco has run out of Ralgex!)  And there was extra cheering and applause when Bilford Court resident and Wuccie Dennis was brought front and centre for our performance of Jambalaya.  After the singing came the raffle, with a huge range of prizes donated by the company where Dennis' son works.  All the proceeds of the raffle as well as the profits from the sale of the food and drink and donations to the buckets were given to us for Spectrum Days. I hardly have the words to say just how grateful we are to Dennis and his team, to the residents and management of Bilford Court for their wonderful generosity.  After spending quite some time counting cash, I banked the incredible sum of £656.19.  Yes - that right!  Six hundred and fifty-six pound, nineteen pence.  Wow!  Worth getting out of bed for!  Huge thanks to the Wuccies for their massive contribution to a truly excellent day, and thanks to Geoff and Bilford Court resident/Wuccie, Roger H, for the photos - which I might have to send in two separate emails.  Cheers Trevor

23/08/24 Fox and Hounds, Lulsley

Hi people, Quick thank you to all who played at Lulsley on Friday and/or Sunday. Sorry for the confusion, I said we were in but we were out so I let everyone know we were out and when we got there we were in. So it was in, out, out, in! (Forgot to Shake it all about.) Good crowd who showed their appreciation by depositing a total of £189.57. Maybe it was because we sang “At the Fox” instead of the Hop!

Big thanks to you all and to Tom for inviting us. Elaine and Trevor

23/08/24 Worcester Wheels

HI all, I could be said that making such comparisons is a tad invidious, but I thought that the gig at the Worcester Wheels Friendship Hub this lunchtime was one of the best I've been on for some time.  It was a little worrying when, only 5 minutes before we were due to start, only 4 of us had arrived.  Apparently, there were some quite severe traffic problems in Worcester this morning: most unusual!  However, the rest of the gang arrived just in the nick of time for us to start. Having spoken to the organiser earlier in the week, I knew that they wanted all the old standards... which, luckily, is our forte!  We played two sets, one of 30 minutes and one of 45, to lots of singing along, percussion playing and dancing.  Our friend Stan, from St  Pauls, proved that you cannot keep a good man down by joining us on one of our songs. Look out for him on one of the photos. By the end of our two sets, it was pretty apparent that everyone had had fun.  There wasn't  an official Spectrum Days bucket to hand, because I'd left it in the car. However, we did have Geoff's hat. which is much bigger than the bucket, anyway! The Worcester Wheelers put into that hat the grand total of  £73.62, which will be augmented with the addition of a £50.00 gig fee. Brilliant!  Many, many thanks to those Wuccies who coped with the worst that the Worcester traffic could throw at them and who contributed so brilliantly to a very WUCcessful gig.  I hope their journey home was easier than the journey there!  Thanks, also, to Geoff for the photos... and for the use of the hat!  Cheers Trevor

17/08/24 Worcester Festival

Hi all,
What a joyful gig it was, on the stage behind Huntingdon Hall this morning!  The Sun was out, the crowds were out and we were... IN: tune, form and harmony! We were a little late in starting, as the programme has no inbuilt time for one group to pack away and the next group to set up, but we sang and played really well for around 50 minutes and covered 14 songs.  We drew quite a crowd, including a pipe and drum band in full highland dress.  We normally love it when the audience joins in, but - no disrespect! - we're glad the bagpipes remained deflated during our set!  There was lots of joining in from other passers-by and stop-and-standers, though, including some great work on tambourine and jingle bells from the younger members of the audience, and - most notably - a great performance from the young lad who borrowed Wuccie Jo's uke and played a song with us - Sha-La-La-La-Lee, if I remember correctly. The lad, who is learning ukulele at School, done good!  The future is bright!  We're sure that no-one noticed and that we got away with it when someone (I won't say who, because it's embarrassing!) had taken the wrong tin whistle (they come in different keys) out of his rucksack to play the intro of Dirty Old Town.  Luckily, we spotted the error after just four notes, and we ditched the song and moved swiftly on to the next number.  Our 50 minutes soon passed, and we left the stage to the Phoenix Choir, many of whom had stayed throughout our set.
Huge thanks, as always, to all those Wuccies who made their way into the city centre today, and who played and sang so well, and equally huge thanks to the Bucketeers who did such an excellent job of helping people to relieve themselves of all that cumbersome cash in their pockets and purses. WUC's USP of enthusiasm mixed with fun worked its magic again, and the bottom line was the creditable sum of £94.32 being paid in to the Club account, destined for Spectrum Days.
Many thanks, again, everyone who contributed, and many thanks to Geoff for the photographs.
Trevor

11/08/24 Teme Valley Market

Hi Everyone, Thanks to all of the players at this morning’s Teme Valley Market gig. Our music sounded good and some of our audience were singing along and jigging about. Thank you for playing and singing ‘Singing the Blues’ perfectly. Extra special thanks to Mark who played bass for us at very short notice (this morning) and to Nick for his mic explanations of Spectrum Days which I’m sure boosted the collection bucket total (£89.64). We also received a gig fee of £75 so that’s a total of £164.64 to add to the Spectrum Days collection total (assuming my adding up powers have not waned). It was an enjoyable morning for me and I hope the rest of the band too. Colin

10/08/24 Stoke Lacey Parish Church

Hello All, Thanks to the players who crossed borders to get to Stoke Lacey today. There were 16 of us, including three virgin players. You know who you are. The crowd couldn’t tell the difference so now you know what it’s like you can do it again. Not the easiest of gigs with the arena being huge and the crowd not being able to hear us, well they could hear the music but not me. (Little did they know how lucky they were.) Thanks to Colin H who managed to schmooze the organiser and we were able to plug into their amp for our second set. Thanks to John M too for bringing a mic and amp for us to use. We were promised free tea but some were charged! Not Eileen, she stood her ground and got a free tea. The bucket collection brought in £16.45 and that added to the £75 gig fee has put nearly £100 for  Spectrum.
Thanks everyone, Elaine

02/08/24 Welland House Care Centre

Hi all, Yesterday - Friday 2nd August - saw our latest visit to play both for and with our friends at Welland House Care Centre, who gave us  our customary warm welcome.  We were only 7 in number, as space is limited, so we soon set up and then set about the serious business of having fun.  We played for around an hour and a quarter to lots of singing along, playing along, chair-dancing and proper stand-up dancing.  There were many highlights, but the two highestlights in my opinion were the wonderful descant harmony sung to by the Lady In Blue (we think her name might have been June, but not sure) to Blue Suede Shoes and the show-topping, show-stopping solo rendition by resident, Gary, of You'll Never Walk Alone.  We always enjoy our visits to Welland House, and yesterday was certainly no exception!  We're now looking forward to our next gig there just before Christmas. A huge 'thank You' to the Gang of 7 who played and sang so well and who contributed to a brilliant afternoon in Welland - and thanks to Geoff for the photos. Trevor

27/07/24 Spectrum Days Buskathon Worcester

Today, Saturday 27th July, we held the latest in our series of busks for Spectrum Days in front of the former Debenhams store on Worcester High Street. We did two sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.  The weather was not too bad, apart from one short shower at around midday, and there were lots of people out on the streets of Worcester.  Many of them stopped to listen, and three members of the audience actually joined us to sing a song or two: a sort of ukulele-based karaoke, henceforth known as ukulareoke.  The first one was June, a keen singer, who gave us a cracking rendition of King of the Road.  The second was our own John M, who borrowed a ukulele and gave it his all on Peggy Sue.  The third was our own John H who counted us in - and then joined in - on Budapest, a song that the had brought to WUC. We were also joined in the afternoon by Maggie, the CEO of Spectrum Days, who was most appreciative of all the effort that WUC is putting into supporting Spectrum Days this year.  So, immense thanks to everyone who took part - singing and playing and bucketeering - and who helped make the event so successful.  As a result of our 4 hours playing today, I shall be going to the bank on Monday to deposit a brilliant £402.58 into the club account for Spectrum Days. Result!! Photos courtesy of Geoff. Cheers Trevor

26/07/24 Spectrum Days Droitwich

On Thursday, 17 Wuccies went to the Spectrum Days Centre in  Droitwich to perform at their annual Open Day/Rainbow Festival. It was obvious that everyone involved with Spectrum Days had put a huge amount of work into organising and running an excellent day, with all sorts of stalls, games and activities.  We had been invited to perform for an hour on the main stage, and we were more than happy to oblige.  On stage before us was an excellent guitarist/keyboard player/singer called Alex.  We enjoyed Alex'x set very much... although our hearts sunk deeper and deeper with each successive song he did that was on our playlist!  I think there were 6 or 7 such songs!  Never mind!  We do them differently at WUC, and we had a secret weapon that Alex did not have: kazoos! Huge thanks to the Wuccies who played.  The staff at Spectrum Days were delighted with our performance and - much more importantly - we got the seal of approval of Jim! Our success was aided immensely by a group of children from the nursery over the road from Spectrum Days.  They came equipped with maracas, tambourines and other percussion instruments, and they took great delight in keeping us in time on a couple of our songs - even counting us in for one of them. Cheers, Trevor

23/07/24 Latimer Court Worcester

Hi everyone, A big thank you to the happy band of Wuccies who sang and played with gusto this afternoon at Latimer Court. It was a fun afternoon accompanied by an enthusiastic audience who kept us in time with the shaking, rattling and banging of various percussion instruments. Lots of positive comments, my favourite came from a lady who wanted to shake my hand because she was so pleased to see someone young in the band! No offence guys and girls! Another £75.00 for Spectrum Days and fun afternoon had by all. Thanks again, Nick, Elaine and Trevor.

Well done to Nick too for co-leading today. He passed the audition and is now on the leaders list. Nice to have a youngster with us!! Elaine & Trevor

21/07/24 Bilford Court

HI all,

The angels up in heaven threw their harps down, in despair,
The skylarks, blithely singing, all fell silent in the air.
The Lorelei cut short her song and wished that she'd been there
When the Wuccies went to play at Bilford Court!
No group of players e'er before had sung songs quite so sweet
Nor shown on ukuleles such mastery complete.
The crowd, impressed, joined in with song and even tapped their feet!
Yes! The Wuccies all done good, that's what I thought!

That's enough of the poetry (!) and hyperbole!  Many, many thanks to the 15 Wuccies who responded to my plaintive plea a couple of weeks ago and came along to play at Bilford Court, where they were holding a fund-raising event to help finance their Christmas festivities.  The gig was supposed to be outside, but we took the decision to set up inside, even though it wasn't raining at the time.  This turned out to be a good move, as it chucked it down when we were three-quarters through our session! 
We had an appreciative audience, who sang along, played the percussion instruments with gusto and clapped at all the right times and in all the right places!  Dennis, the organiser, was delighted with the way things went and was very grateful to us. There was a gig fee of £50.00, but, as it was a fund-raiser for their Christmas parties, we agreed not to take a bucket along.  However, several of the residents came up to me at the end and gave me money for our charity.  Having got home and counted the fee and the donations, I made a payment of £105.08 into the club funds.  It should have been £105.00, but I suffered a bout of FFS  (Fat Finger Syndrome) and hit a wrong key by mistake and didn't spot the error until it was too late!
Bilford Court are holding another fund-raising event on 24th August, at which all the monies raised will come to WUC for our charity.  I'm sure it will be as much fun as this one was. There are places to fill, so get on to Muzodo!
Thanks to Bilford Court resident and fellow-Wuccie Roger for the photo.  (I think we were playing a piece by Liszt - or just list - when he took it!  
Also, my personal thanks to Colin TY for agreeing at short notice to share the leading and to everyone else for their support.
Cheers
Trevor

20/07/24 Great Malvern Farmer's Market

Hi Everyone, What an absolutely splendid morning was had at the Malvern Farmer’s Market today. Moved from our normal position and put under a tree, we wondered what it would be like but in fact, it turned out to be a good decision by the organisers. There was space for folk to stop and stare, dance a little, applaud a lot and contribute to our bucket! Big thank you to Kate for ‘bucketeering' today and special mention to a rhythm section of John Hi and a friend from Malvern Ukes, Yvonne, who played percussion throughout. The two of them really gave a great platform. Never seen before was Yvonne’s use of the corner poles on the gazebo!!  Thank you to Joan and Jean for hand-jiving 'At The Hop’. 
So here we are below and didn’t they do well? Good banter, laughs and playing throughout, a credit to WUC! Joan , Dave Su, Frank, Eileen , Jean, John Hi, Jan S, John He, Liz, Jan W, Ken, Brian, Ian, Peter G, David H, Steve H (unpacking uke!!) and Nick. Picture courtesy of Ian’s partner Linnie and there will be video when it comes to FaceBook!

There’s more!! To the players, 'Kate the Bucket’ passed on lots of compliments from the shoppers and at the end the organiser caught me as we were racing to the Waitrose car park (3 hour limit!). He was extremely pleased with our performance, engagement with the Market crowd, promotion of our Spectrum Days charity and also their decision on the location. Therefore it is with great pride that we pass the baton, our excellent reputation and the new position under a tree onto Trevor, Elaine and Tom. Good luck!
Oh, and in the bucket was an impressive  £98.73  which Jean and I have topped up to send £100 to Spectrum Days. Regards John He

18/07/24 St Paul's Church Worcester

Hi Everyone, A very big thank you and well done to the Wuccies who were a credit to the club this lunchtime. A big crowd joined the happy crew to sing, shake/bang percussion instruments and dance a bit as well. Big thank you to ‘bucketeer’ John M, ‘Hand-Jivers' Joan and Jean, Ian for playing bass and Jane Br for jumping in ‘WUCwaters’ and playing her first gig!. A generous £79.37 brings Spectrum Days a total of £129.37 and a repeat booking for us. All in all fun, banter and smiles ruled the day as usual. Normally you would see a glossy photo of those mentioned above, plus Colin TY, Brian, Peter S, Ann, Rick, David A, Shirley, Maureen, Maggie, Liz, Michael, and Malcolm. However it is still at Boots being developed, so use your imagination!! See some of you at Malvern Market on Saturday. The fun never stops!

13/07/24 Astwood Bank Carnival

Many thanks to the band who played today at Astwood Bank in the carnival procession. I think that we all agreed that musically, it was not the greatest occasion. In previous years we have been separated from the loudest parts of the procession but today we were close behind a very large articulated lorry playing amplified recorded music very loudly. The only thing between us and the lorry were a troupe of wrestlers who would occasionally stop to throw each other about. They then caught up with the lorry and the marshall then hassled us to keep up, not so easy when pulling the bass cart. To add to our troubles, Geoff's bass malfunctioned, leaving us to watch Trev's lips for the timing! However, we made it to the end, having sung and played our 5 songs numerous times. Thanks to everyone for staying the course, thanks to Trev for leading, to me for pulling the bass cart, John Hi for lending us his bass cart and amplifier and last but not least, to Trev's German friend, Konrad for vigorously shaking the collecting bucket (proceeds to The Astwood Bank Carnival fund for local charities). Despite my best efforts, we did not get a prize for our cart and turnout this year. The competition was very tough but I think that the real problem was design, based on a Boeing plane and made of cardboard, duct tape and plumbing pipes. Now if we'd used an Airbus design, things might have been different. Attached is pic. of the band and "aircart". Our reward for all of the above.....£250 gig fee, so Spectrum Days come out the winners, after all. Thanks again and best wishes to all. Allan. 

No matter what,   you guys looked absolutely amazing. Well done all of you, and thank you Allan for a hilarious documentary of your experience of processing an airbus whilst playing, singing and marching.  The WUC reputation lives on - Virginia

Hi all, one of the photos is courtesy of my German exchange partner from 1969, who is over here to soak up some British culture. Can it ever get more cultured than a group of ukulele players parading through the streets of Astwood Bank?  Cheers Trevor

10/07/24 Sight Concern Wednesday Afternoon Club

What a receptive audience greeted our performance today. Applause after EVERY number...
I knew my team could cope with anything but that included my crazy count-in when we rattled through 'Obladi' at a record rate .....  and I mean FAST!   
Their diction was impeccable and we all finished spot on the last beat. WOW..... What troupers.
(Mind you we were all in need of oxygen afterwards).
John M.  my co-conspirator raised the roof (vocally of course) when he gift-wrapped the 'Sweet Caroline' anthem with a mention of tonight's England match. 
Dave S. brought a tear to the eye with his soulful intro to Runaround Sue   ......    
We raised a total of £152.10p inc booking fee and an immediate repeat booking for this time next year.
That's what I call a result and I want to thank my fantastic supporters every single one. 

06/07/24 Fladbury Walkabout

Hello, all, A big thank you to the 17 players who came out to play at Fladbury on Saturday 6th July. We had a huge gazebo that we turned into an outdoor theatre by bringing some chairs in out of the rain to provide a playing space and a listening/lunch-eating space. Nobody used the audience space for the first 29 minutes as it was raining, and there were very few people about. Then the rain stopped and the people came and several stopped, sat, listened and clapped - although that might just have been to keep warm. 

The gig fee was £200, so worth getting damp for.  Although we didn't officially have a bucket, there was one there, which was spotted by an audience member, and the upshot was that there was £13.00 in it by the end of our second set. Thanks to all who turned up and to Nick who co-led his very first gig with Trevor. Elaine stood next to him to help but wasn’t needed much, as he did a good job! It always rains when Elaine plays at Fladbury so we're considering not allowing her to go again!

Elaine, Nick and Trevor (Photos courtesy of Geoff)

30/06/24 Upton Jazz Festival

Hi Everyone, A very big thank you and well done for the 20 Wuccies who were a credit to the club this afternoon. Down by the river we were and we did our bit (and more) to advance Jazz in the town. Such classics as Amarillo, Urban Spaceman, Cleaning ‘Winders’ plus lots of medleys kept the cognoscenti happy, if not puzzled! Big thank you to ‘bucketeer’ Anne who did a marvellous job and added £59.45 to the fee of £75 generously brought to us by ‘booker Jon’, no MGs!!! All in all fun, banter and smiles ruled the day. Thanks again all.

Super little video taken by Tracey (Shirley's sister) at the Upton Jazz Festival...

28/06/24 Emma's Ball

Hi all, Well, when I first bought a ukulele all those years ago, little did I realise, at the time, the range of opportunities and experiences that would come my way as a result of having purchased such a simple little instrument. One such experience certainly came our way on Friday evening, when we were invited along to provide the background music as around 200 guests arrived for a black-tie ball in aid of St Richards Hospice. The ball had been organised in memory of Emma, who had died from Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma during lockdown.  We were delighted and honoured to have been asked to take part.
As you may see from Geoff's photos, were were somewhat underdressed in comparison with the guests, but we didn't let that put us off. We were playing 'Al Fresco' (although I don't think Al ever played any of our numbers!), just outside the marquee, where the guests were assembling.  With a couple of exceptions - notably the lady dressed a la 20's and her husband (see photo 2), who described themselves as 'musos' (he has a ukulele!) we weren't paid an awful lot of attention.  There was some foot-tapping and singing along gong on, but - understandably - the guests were concentrating on their pre-prandial drinks and talking to each other... and it's hard to clap with a Bucks Fizz in your hand.  However, we played with real gusto, and, though I say so myself, we sounded really good!

Organiser Jane was full of praise for us when our time was up and the guests all went into the marquee to eat.  She said that we had provided a lovely, lively start to their evening and had set just the right tone.

Many, many thanks to the 15 Wuccies who really tested their Satnavs and ventured into the deepest depths of rural Worcestershire  to contribute to a super evening. Photos - courtesy of Geoff - show just how underdressed we were and why we just had to play "Dedicated Follower Of Fashion"!

Cheers Trevor

22/06/24 Neil and Eileen's 65th Wedding Anniversary

Hi All, There were only half a dozen today, which was just as well, as we were in a small elevated section of the garden, overlooking the party on the patio. I (Elaine) asked for a pair of secateurs but I was told no, so I played from behind a tree! This was our second visit to Prickley Green. We were last there five years ago for the 60th wedding anniversary of Neil and Eileen, and this time to help them celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary. We were delighted and honoured to be invited to do so.

From our lofty post, like minstrels in the gallery, we played two sets, taking care to ensure that neither set included any song written this millennium! The party-goers enjoyed the music, sang along with a few, rattled and shook their rattles and shakers, and generally had a good time. The highlight of the afternoon was when Neil and Eileen danced a waltz to our impromptu rendition of Edelweiss. Talking to Neil afterwards, we agreed to write 20th June 2029 into our diaries for their 70th wedding anniversary.

Cheers Elaine and Trevor

19/06/24 St Andrews Centre, Pershore

Hi Everyone, A big thank you to Brian, Pattie, Phil the Bass, Jean, Terry, Colin R, Joan, Shirley, Maureen, John Ma and Jerry for their group performance at the Lunch Club yesterday. Good playing, singing and banter meant a happy audience who showed their appreciation and support by adding £69.78 to our gig fee of £75, in other words just shy of £150. Well done Joan for ‘Bucketeering’ and also the Hand-Jive Trio of Pattie, Jean and Joan who continue to charm audiences!! No pictures, we forgot our make-up. Regards John

Wow great gig today at Pershore fab song list great strumming and singing,hand Jiving thanks John for leading a truly enjoyable gig 🎼🎼🎸🤠Colin R

15/06/24 School Gardens Residential Village

Evening Everyone
A fine bunch of Wuccies played for us today at this new venue in Stourport. The event was celebrating Charles III’s official birthday and the Trooping of The Colour. As you can see red, white and blue was much in evidence. A big thank you to them from me for their ability to join in the mayhem and have a laugh whilst entertaining. One special thank you to Trevor who filled the gap on bass. A great personal friend but someone who has helped WUC before.
We were made to feel very welcome and well looked after during our visit. This is a residential place not a care home and they certainly set out to enjoy themselves. So we obliged. They really appreciated the percussion instruments and sang well. The chat about Spectrum Days was very well received and they have benefitted today from £80 (extra £5) and £70.60 in the bucket, making £150.60. Rather than the usual bon mots here is the feedback from the venue organiser. Regards John

Hi John,
Thanks again for today , it's was bloomin' brilliant. 
I already had the following comments 
"Book them again" 
"They were brilliant, I hope we can see them again here" 
"Was worthwhile as it was for charity as well as good music"
"Very entertaining, especially the chap at the front ( you John) " 

Stay in touch we'd be more than happy to have you entertain us . 
Kind Regards
Charlotte Hunter 
Service Manager 

12/06/24 Royal Three Counties Show

Hi all, Well, although the weather forecast for today was very reminiscent of the lyrics to Bad Moon Rising, in actual fact the phrase I would have used to sum up the day in meteorological terms is more reminiscent of one of George Formby's catchphrases: "Turned out nice, again!"  So,...yes... there was one shortish shower, which started just as we finished our first set, and ended well before we started our second set, but that was it rain-wise!. People weren't forced to scurry off looking for shelter! The result was that we had a good audience, sitting in their deck-chairs, on the beach, in the Sun, during both of our two sets.

Although one doesn't wish to boast, I thought we sounded really good, and the crowd (ok, perhaps 'crowd' is too strong a word)... er.... the audience clapped and sang and danced along with us, and we got several nice comments from individuals when our work was done. In addition to the positive feedback, we also got a really creditable amount in the collecting buckets.  We actually broke the ton, and I've banked £100:67!  There was one cute little girl, aged probably around 3, whose parents sat throughout our first set, and then came back for our second set.  Her mom gave her a coin to go and put into one of the buckets, which she did to everyone's delight!  She then went to lots of other audience members with her hand out for a coin to put in our bucket.  Let's get her signed up.  There is also a gig fee of £100.00 which will come our way shortly, so a good boost to our charity fund-raising!

So, all in all, it was a great day.  Many, many thanks to the 15 Wuccies who really did the club proud with their singing and playing, and many, many thanks also to Joan's other half, Peter, who rattled a bucket through both sets... and to Barbara who rattled the second bucket during the second set.

Cheers Elaine and Trevor

12/06/24 Fernhill House Care Home

Hi all, A huge vote of thanks to the Baker's Dozen of Wuccies who played so well at the Fernhill House Care Home, Fernhill Heath, this afternoon.  This was the first time we've played at this care home. and I don't think it will be the last!  We had a blast!
The playing area wasn't the easiest layout we've ever had to cope with, but we did well, and kept together, aided largely by the residents who shook and rattled their shakers and rattles with enthusiasm and a good sense of timing.  We were also aided by one member of staff, Lucy, who counted us in for the song Urban Spaceman (as both Elaine and I had kazoos in our mouths.)  Lucy did tease us a little with her first count-in by only counting up to 3, but we were perfectly counted in - possibly never better - on her second go, which reached the heady heights of 4!
I had a personal blast from the past when another member of staff asked me, "Didn't you used to be a teacher?" Turns out she was one of my ex-pupils at Middle School. I would not have recognised her, as she was only 13 the last time I saw her, but I did remember her and her siblings. I did have to point out, though, that she should refer to me as her 'former teacher', and not as her 'old teacher'!
We received a gig fee of £75.00.  We told them about Spectrum Days, but we didn't mention the buckets, as it wasn't the sort of gig at which that would be appropriate.  However, one of the residents spotted the bucket on the floor on his way out, and popped a fiver into it, so Spectrum Days will be £80.00 better off as a result of the gig.  Many, many thanks again to all who came along and took part. Cheers Trevor and Elaine

11/06/24 Battenhall Retirement Village

Hi All, Quick thank you to the dynamic dozen who played in the very swish retirement home this afternoon. We played to a very refined audience, who percussed in perfect time through out and laughed politely to Trevor’s questionable jokes. (like we all do). Proof of their breeding, at the end of the gig, one lady asked “Are we allowed to ask for an encore?”.  We obliged and they showed their appreciation by dropping a nice £73 in the collecting ukulele case. Well, we couldn’t possibly have used a plastic bucket could we? Together with the £75 gig fee we managed to raise £148 for Spectrum Days. Thanks again, Elaine and Trevor.

21/05/24 Drakes Broughton Tea Party

HI all, What a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon we had today, playing to a full Drakes Broughton Village Hall. Their Tea Party was a great success, and we were told in no uncertain terms that our playing helped make it such. We played two sets, with a break in between for yummy sandwiches, cake, tea and coffee. The audience joined in enthusiastically with the singing and on percussion and the time seemed to fly by.
As well as the gig fee of £75.00, there was £109.95 in the collecting buckets.
A huge 'thank you' to all the Wuccies who took part and helped to make the afternoon so joyful! Cheers Trevor

The really good news update is that, Martin - the Drakes Broughton Village Hall treasurer - transferred a further £132.50 into WUC's account.  This money was the proceeds of the raffle held at the Tea Party.  It brought the total raised on the day to £317.45.  Many, many thanks to the organisers of the Drakes Broughton Village Hall Tea Party, and to those 'Wonderwuccies' who helped make it so successful Cheers (again) Trevor

18/05/24 Spectrum Days Busk, Worcester

HI all, Well, the weather gods were certainly looking after us this time after the arctic conditions in which we held our last buskathon back in March.  OK, so there was one very, very short shower, but it only rained on Joan, who was on bucket-rattle duties, while the rest of us were sheltering beneath the canopy (?) outside the former Debenhams store, so it didn't really matter!  (Only joking, Joan! ).  There was lots of passing traffic, and many people took advantage of the nearby benches to sit a while and listen.  The great people of Worcester put their hands in their pockets and contributed most generously to our charity.  I couldn't quite believe the total the first time I counted it, so I counted it again, and then asked Sue to check the adding up.  As a result of today's bust, which I thought was immensely enjoyable, Spectrum Days will be better off to the sum of £460.75!  Wow!  Many, many thanks to all the Wuccies who turned out and who contributed in so many ways to a hugely enjoyable and hugely successful busk. Roll on the next one. Cheers Trevor

17/05/24 Meadow Court Retirement Village

Hi all, It was really good to see so many of our old friends at Meadow Court Retirement Village, Worcester, again today. We were made to feel most welcome, when we went to play a few pre-lunch songs both for and with them.  We kicked off with a rousing and enthusiastic (but probably totally off-key) rendition of Happy Birthday to resident, Martin.  We're not sure what his age is, but we do know he doesn't look a day over it!  We then sang two sets, and the joining in, both vocally and percussively, was excellent! Although the lunch that the residents were about to enjoy was to celebrate Dementia Awareness Week, with proceeds of their raffle going to Dementia Awareness, they still managed to find some cash to chuck in our bucket.  As well as the £75.00 gig fee, there was a truly creditable £38.28 in the bucket. Many thanks to all the Wuccies who came along and who sang and played so well and who helped to make the gig so successful.  The first thing that Jo, the manager, asked me when we'd finished and were packing away was whether we could come again at Christmas.  For Meadow Court?  Yes! Definitely! Cheers Trevor

09/05/24 Malvern RHS Spring Fair

Hi All, 
Well, the sun certainly had his hat on for us today. We played just by the beach with our audience lounging in deck chairs: a very British summer’s day. Fifteen of us played and sang through an assortment of songs, all well received by our audience, who joined along, singing and doing the actions to most. 

Trevor’s bit……. Yes, it was a really enjoyable gig, and we got lots of complimentary comments at the end. We also got a good collection in the bucket. I had expected around £30.00, based on what I had seen going into the bucket from the relatively few passers-by. I was very nicely surprised to find £76.43, though! Plus the gig fee: £100.00! Nigh swan! Many thanks to the Wuccies who came along and contributed so well to a really great day!

Back to Elaine........... At the end of the afternoon it took me, Ian and James ( two show staff ) about 25 minutes to find my car. All’s well that ends well.

Elaine

Another bit from Trevor.......... I had a similar problem finding my car. In the end, I left the club amp, the buckets with the collection in, my uke and my rucksack with my iPad in in the safe care of a parking marshal, and went walkabout to track it down. I later suggested to the marshal that they have drones with cameras to fly over the car park to help muppets like me! An idea for Dragons Den, perhaps?  This time next year, we'll be millionaires.
Trevor

04/05/24 Malvern Arts Market

Well, wasn't it grand to be out playing with a band of friends on that rarest of rare things - a bright and sunny morning in May!!  Many thanks to the cracking Wuccie crew who congregated to croon to an appreciative Priory crowd at the Malvern Arts Market this morning. We made no secret of the fact that we are not professional musicians and that we might need a little help from time to time... and the help was forthcoming. Who among us will ever forget being counted in by our temporary Musical Direct, Ned.  I'm not sure we've ever sung Belle of Belfast City so well before, and probably never will again.  We also had lots of help throughout our two sets from young, up-and-coming percussionists.  Lots of passers by paused for a song or two; some joined in; many found a penny in their pocket to chuck it in our bucket.  The total raised for Spectrum Days today was £130.08.  Once again, many thanks to the Malvern Arts Market for allowing us to play, and huge thanks to all the Wuccies who contributed so well to what can only be described as a really enjoyable and successful couple of hours. Cheers Trevor

22/04/24 The Rose Garden Village Malvern

Hi all. Very many thanks to the excellent band that played at the Rose Garden Hereford. We had a great time and the audience enjoyed it too! I think that this is the third time that we've played there and we're always made very welcome. It's a great venue with a stage, good acoustics and an appreciative audience. One new member of the audience was a lady from Yorkshire who had travelled down to visit a relative. She came up to us at the end to say how much she enjoyed the show. She went on to say that she thought we were a bit "Different". I decided to take this as a compliment! We had a good gig fee (£150) but in addition, we were allowed to take a bucket collection which yielded £65.19 and the Rose Garden added in the proceeds of their afternoon raffle (£41.20) so we came away with a total of £256.39 for the Spectrum Days Charity. Thanks again to all the band. Allan.

20/04/24 Great Malvern Farmer's Market

Hi Everyone, A very big thank you to this cheery bunch who played at the Malvern Farmers Market this morning. Lots of fun was had and they certainly kept me on my toes, including changing positions as I tried to introduce them to the crowd! Terry came up with the ‘line' of the day after I introduced Da Doo Ron Ron with ‘I met her on a Monday and my heart stood still!’, adding that he hoped a defibrillator was available!! Well done Jean, Joan and Barb as the Hand Jive Trio plus thanks to Joan and Barb for ‘bucketeering’. The quality of their enthusiasm and the band's performance led to a collection total of £108.25. A great result for Spectrum Days and to be added to the current running total of over £2000. Regards John

Peter, Dave, Shirley, Brian, Frank, John Hi, Terry, Jean, Liz, Eileen and Jackie, Martin, Joan, David, Ann, Steve, Nick, Barb and Jan

10/04/24 Alzheimer's Support Group - Worcester Warriors Foundation

Hi Everyone, Many of you know Stan of St Paul’s fame. His daughter got in touch with me last Friday(!) and we rapidly, with Virginia’s help, pulled a supergroup together for yesterday morning’s show for the Alzheimer’s Support Group organised by the Worcester Warriors Foundation. Amongst other sacrifices Jean cancelled the dentist and Ros the hairdresser to be there. Anyhow the most important thing to say came from Stan’s daughter Bev who sent the following -

"Thank you John and your team it was very good of you to get so many together at such short notice. I have had nothing but positive feedback from members of how they enjoyed the morning. It gives me great pleasure seeing my dad and other members of the group come to life when they hear your music. Big Thank you again, next time will give you more notice! Bev”

Anyway they gave us £50 for the charity and lovely cake! There was dancing and Stan joined us for “You Are My Sunshine”. Jean and Barb were the Hand Jive Twins, Shirley and Phil the tight rhythm section and Martin H gave Sue the Runaround!

Regards John

05/04/24 Welland House Care Centre

Hi all, A small, but perfectly formed, group of 8 Wuccies headed out into the depths of Worcestershire today to play at the Welland House Care Centre, in (surprisingly!) Welland. We were last there just before Christmas, and we were made most welcome again by staff and residents alike, many of whom had been looking forward to our return. We gave out what's left of my percussion instruments, along with word sheets, and we all settled down for a good, old-fashioned sing-song!  We played for just over an hour, and it was great the see so many of the residents joining in and getting up and dancing.  The highlight, though, was when resident, Gary, did a solo rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone.  A great time was had by all, and the charity fund will grow by £80 as a result.  Many thanks to all - on both sides of the ukulele - who did their bit to make the afternoon an enjoyable success! Photographic evidence of our presence is provided by Geoff. Cheers Trevor

28/03/24 Highwell House Care Home, Bromyard

Quick note from today’s gig in Bromyard. There was only space for eight of us but we represented WUC well. We were asked for 60’s and 70’s music. They sang and percussed (is that a word?) to everything. We turned the session into a quiz and awarded virtual points. Eddie was the champion, gaining points for answering, and he even turned the tables and asked his own questions! Afternoon tea was wonderful, served on a tea trolley, very posh.
Second half  was just as much fun. When we sang, “When I’m 64”, one man said “I can give you 40 years on that”. Turns out he was 103! Amazing man. We were thanked and all promised “mates rates” when we’re ready to move in. I think that’s a first.
Anyway, we spent a couple of hours having fun and raising £87 for our charity. I’m sure we’ll be asked back again. Thanks to today’s band, you did a great job. My first time leading a gig for a few months, I’d forgotten how much fun it is. Elaine

23/03/24 Spectrum Days Busk

HI all,
Well, it was hard to believe that we have passed the Spring equinox and that we are only a week away from putting the clocks  forward.  Boy, was it chilly on the High Street outside the Debenhams today! However, we ukulele players are noted for our resolve and our resilience, and 37 of us turned out today, to stand in the shade of what little sunshine there was, and to entertain the great people of Worcester for very nearly 4 hours. We were ably assisted by our bucket-rattlers, and we were delighted to see a goodly group of staff, members and carers of Spectrum Days who turned out to support us supporting them! A special mention to Jim and Tash! It wouldn't have been a proper Spectrum Days do without them!
Perhaps it was the far from spring-like weather keeping people away, but there didn't seem to be that many passers-by chuckin' it in the bucket.  However, the rucksack containing the cash on my trek back to the car was heavy, and, once I had got home, it took me quite some time to tot up the total.  I had to wash some of the cash - money laundering? - as I think someone must have spilled part of a drink into one of the buckets.  (WUC have had a Lucky Bucket for a few years: we've now also got a Mucky Bucket!)  When all the cash was clean and dry, the counting began, and I am delighted to report that the total collected was £466.73!  Wow!  (Even more surprising than the truly impressive amount raised was the fact that there were no foreign coins at all in the collection... and no shopping-trolley tokens! ) A HUGE "thank you!" and a HUGE "well done!" to everyone who took part.
Attached are photos from Geoff and Rosemary (who was a very busy bee this afternoon).  The little girl with Anne is Lily in Pink (not to be confused with Lily the Pink), and we are grateful to her dad, Nathan, who took the photo, emailed it to Geoff and consented to us using the photo in our emails and on Facebook.
I'll have a look at what's on when, and then I'll look to book another busk at the end of April/beginning of May, when it can only be a bit warmer!  Can't it....??!!

Cheers

Trevor

21/03/24 Delores' Wake - Blackpole Inn, Worcester

Hi all
A group of 14 of us met at the Blackpole Inn, Worcester, this afternoon to play at the wake of an erstwhile resident of Bilford Court.  We came across Dolores at the gigs we've done at Bilford Court, and it was very much a case of "once you've met her, you don't forget her"!  She loved a good sing-along, and - being Irish - would often ask for a song from the Emerald Isle, and we would oblige, if we could.  Well, this afternoon, we played a set of 10 songs, five of which, at some time, had made their way in an easterly direction across the Irish Sea.  The friends and family at the wake had copies of the lyrics, and there was great audience participation.  We had a spare microphone, and offered everyone the chance to perform a ukularaoke song.  Eventually. Dimitri was brave enough (or coerced) to pick up the mike and help us along with Bring Me Sunshine.  He went down a storm, and didn't want to give up the mike, so he also gave his all on Fields of Athenry and I'll Fly Away.
Although the circumstances were essentially, sad, the mood in the room was a joyful one, remembering and celebrating Dolores. Everyone was sure she would have had a ball, had she been there!
As well as the £75.00 gig fee, there had been collections at Bilford Court and at the Crematorium, which Julie, Dolores' daughter, decided to pass on to us to support Spectrum Days.  The total collected at the two venues was £299.72... plus a shopping-trolley token.  I reckon that it's the thought that counts, so I've bought the token for £1.00 (which it resembles!), meaning that the grand total in buckets is £301.72.  (Anyone want to buy a British Heart Foundation shopping-trolley token, for a mere £1.25?)
Many thanks to everyone who played and helped to make the event so successful, and many thanks to Dolores' friends and family for allowing us to take part in it.
Two photos from Geoff attached.
Cheers
Trevor

21/03/24 The Warf Care Home, Stourport

Hi Everyone, A brief report following our gig today. The pretty bunch below were our representatives this afternoon and did their utmost to maintain the WUC reputation, as they provided an hour of fun and jollity as only WUCs know how. We had a lot of banter, mostly at my expense, a joke from Yvonne and much more from the audience who provided percussive accompaniment, again thanks to Yvonne. The staff were dragged onboard and there were a couple of nice moments when they told us their names and those behind me sang a relevant song e.g. Michelle and Carrie-Ann! Thank you Jean and Yvonne for being the hand-jivers today. Big thank you to Mark on the bass for holding the chaos together with Shirley's tambourine and lastly, to Teddy the Shih Tzu who ..

1) Didn't howl or bark.
2) Provided a sumptuous comedic moment that can't be detailed here!

We have added £75 gig fee and were handed £13 by a couple of the residents after we spoke about Spectrum Days and thanked the Wharf for the fee. All in all we proved that when we all pull together we really do have the know how to have fun and frolics.

Regards John

Looking intelligent are Mark, Rick, Martin S, Liz, Joan, Yvonne, Jean, Shirley and Trevor R.

07/03/24 Spectrum Days

Hi All, Many, many thanks to the group of Wuccies who put their all into the gig at Spectrum Days this morning. As ever, the gig was a joyous and joyful affair, with lots of audience participation and dancing.  The hour went by really quickly, with lots of singing and laughter.  The only downside, I think, was two naughty people behind me, who apparently changed the words of “Hi Ho Silver Lining!” to “Hi Ho Wolverhampton!” I suppose it’s what you come to expect from Wolves fans! (I won’t name any names, but you know who you are, Colin and Jim!!!)

21/02/24 St Andrew's Centre Pershore and Lunch Club

Hi Everyone, A big thank you to the 12 plucky, pluckers who played yesterday in Pershore. I received the following from the organiser Donna.

"Dear John and Worcester Ukulele group,
Please find attached the photos from today, huge thanks to everyone for the most upliftng lunch club everyone commented on how much they enjoyed it.”

All we can ask for, so thanks again to Tom, Phil the Bass, Brian, Jean, Frank, Jerry, Joan, David H, Barbara T, Maureen and  Martin H. Oh and an enthusiastic audience member grabbed our bucket and came back with £66.45 to add to the £75 gig fee making £141.45 for Spectrum Days. I am sure the collection was helped by what Barb said to the audience by way of introducing our charity. Well done Barb, you bought Spectrum Days to life. Regards, John

15/02/24 St Paul's Church Friendship and Lunch Club

Hi, It was a sunny and warmer day, as a sunny and warm hearted bunch of Wuccies met at St Paul’s. Thanks go to Trevor T, John Hi,  Colin B, Brian, Jean, Ann, Martin S, Pete L, Nick, Frank, Sue, Jerry, Joan, Dave Su, Barbara T, Shirley, Martin H, Liz and Michael. Interesting acoustic as ever but a happy audience joined in enthusiastically. Thanks to Trevor for talking to them about Spectrum Days. Special thanks to the ‘hand-jive’ duo Joan and Jean and Martin for a super RunAround Sue. Stan joined us for ‘You are My Sunshine’ and overall we were very well received. Organiser Peter rang later and said thank you for a great concert! So there! It was he who asked for and took the photo of the three of us for their church website (lucky them!) and to publicise our charity. Oh, and over £90 for the charity as well. Regards John

03/02/24 Bromyard Road Methodist Church

Well at last WUC has broken the duck for gigging in 2024 and supporting our new charity. 15 of us went to Bromyard Road Methodist Church this afternoon to play to a well attended audience who were supporting their own charity linked to Nigeria. They were a lovely audience who joined in with clapping and singing with many of the songs. The biggest surprise was that most of them joined in doing the hand-jive led with great enthusiasm by Jean!! Never seen that before, not Jean acting daft but the audience en masse joining in! There was a great deal of smiley enthusiasm and banter with a tiny hint of rust but we must have entertained because despite there being no fee they took our bucket away and gave us £67.14 which given they were supporting another charity, was very generous! 

Well done Pete L, Rick, Colin, Martin S, Jean, Dave Su, Shirley, Maureen, John M, Brian, Bev, Martin H and Bill the Bass. Special mention to Colin for leading his Buddy Holly Medley, Brian for harmonies and Martin H for leading with gusto Runaround Sue plus scatdabadoo in the Jungle Book Medley! Photos are courtesy of Pat who described herself as a WUC groupie who used to send videos to Colin!!! One more thing, there was a young lady called Scarlet, age 8, in the audience who had bought her own ukulele. We checked her out and she can already play C, Am, F and G! She is booked to do the rolling start next time on the Jungle Book Medley!! One for the future eh!

Regards 

Bête Noire

There was a guy taking photos & videos at the Bromyard Road Methodist Church gig. We didn't expect to get quite such a professional result & this is just part one - watch this space for part two!