By Charles Barker
TWO amateur Coventry musicians recorded a CD of some of their favourite songs, and raised hundreds of pounds for a city charity.
Former teacher John Hudson of Stoke Green, who plays guitar, teamed up with harmonica player Dr John Middleton, who lives on the Coombe Park estate and is president of the Faculty of Public Health.
They recorded an album, Songs for Old Friends.
Money from the sale of the CD – £500 and rising – is going to Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre’s appeal for help with the cost of moving home.
The pair presented a cheque to the charity’s outgoing boss, Sabir Zazai, at a music event at the Middleton home.
The CRMC has had to move from its Bishop Street base to Norton House, near Stoney Stanton Road, and needs to raise £60,000 to help meet the costs involved.
Sabir said: “This wonderful gesture goes to show how Coventry deserves its reputation as a city of peace and reconciliation.”
The CD’s seven songs are a mixture of English and Irish folk songs and Americana.
John Hudson writes in the sleeve notes: “We dedicate these songs to those brave people who have left their homelands and often their loved ones…to seek safety and peace on our shores.
“They will have brought their music too, as refugees and migrants always have.”
To help the CRMC please go to
https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/coventryrefugeeandmigrantcentre/thebigmove.