Ensemble from Chatham Renews Christmas Day Tradition

For nearly twenty years, an ensemble from the band at Chatham Citadel has gone to the Wisdom Hospice in Rochester, Kent on Christmas Day to visit staff and residents. Originally, the hospice was one of four medical facilities that were visited on Christmas Day, but the others have all been closed or relocated. The visit to Wisdom Hospice was not possible last year (2002) as the hospice was under construction and the patients had ben moved elsewhere.

On Christmas Day, 2003, a group of nine participated, playing an singing favorite Christmas carols to the staff and those patients who were too ill to travel home for the holiday. Many of the hospice's beds were occupied, and members of the ensemble took the opportunity to not only present musical selections but speak personally with patients and their families.

Source:
Chatham Citadel web site

Posted by Webmaster 04 February 2004 11:26:52