The Epsom Choral Society is to help raise cash for a local refugee volunteering group at their annual Christmas concert this year.

The Epsom and Ewell Refugee Network, a group of residents who provide help and support to refugees and asylum seekers in the borough, will be collecting donations at the concert.

The Christmas concert will be held at St Martin’s Parish Church on Church Street at 7.30pm on Saturday, December 22.

Organiser Nina Kaye, founder of the national charity Refugees at Home, which pairs refugees in need of a home with host families, said: “On the very first Christmas, two thousand years ago, Joseph and Mary sought shelter in a stable for Jesus’ birth, when there was ‘no room at the inn’.

“Soon after, they became refugees, fleeing Herod’s persecution. Epsom has its fair share of stables, but also some generous families who have opened their hearts and homes to refugees from the Middle East and elsewhere.”

The Epsom Choral Society will be performing old and new Christmas carols and give the audience the opportunity to sing along to Christmas favourites.

Among the performers are the London Metropolitan Brass Quintet, Marion Lea on the piano, Benedict Lewis-Smith on the organ, and Julian Collings, who will be conducting.

Helen Phillips, chairman of the Epsom Choral Society said: “We hope that by inviting the Epsom Refugee Network to hold the retiring collection at the end of our Christmas Concert, we might help meet the needs of others who arrive here from far afield seeking support.”

You can buy tickets by calling the Box Office on 01372 727078. Tickets are £15 for adults and £7.50 for students and under-18s.