Sir Cliff and Lesley's £39,000 gift for Doncaster's Lost Chord charity

Sir Cliff and opera legend Lesley delighted fans when they hit the right note during a song together to celebrate the 20th anniversary of one of Britain’s top dementia charities.

The pop legend and the Doncaster Diva are both patrons of Lost Chord, the South Yorkshire organisation that provides vital interactive musical experiences for people living with dementia in care homes and day centres across the region and nationally.

And they took to the stage together for a unique concert helping the charity celebrate its 20th birthday – and raising close to £39,000.

The performance formed the highlight of a special celebration dinner for Lost Chord’s 20th Anniversary at the historic Great Hall of Lincoln’s Inn in London which saw guests enjoying a drinks reception accompanied by Ruby Aspinall on the Harp, three course dinner with music throughout from the professional musicians of Lost Chord - soprano Joan’s ne McGahon, flautist Clara Langan .and pianist Anna Tilbrook – as well as a charity auction.

But the climax of the black tie event saw Sir Cliff and Lesley on stage singing some of their most popular hits and then duetting for the first time with All I Ask of You from musical classic Phantom of the Opera.

“It was a performance which made the hairs on the back of your head stand up.” said Lost Chord chief executive Helena Muller.

“And the fans were all up on their feet dancing to Cliff’s rendition of the last three songs – I'm sure that Lincoln's Inn had never seen the like before or indeed will again.”

Auction prizes included Sir Cliff's signed Red Jacket and iconic jeans that he wore for his 75th anniversary performance and Celebrity Masterchef contestant Lesley's offer of cooking the main course at a dinner party for ten, while singing between courses.

“Fans kept coming up and saying that in all their years of following Sir Cliff and Lesley this was the best event they had ever been to,” said Helena.

“Sir Cliff was amazing - he even took to his feet to help me in the auction.

“We are still getting donations in but we could have raised £40,000 on the event which would mean that Lost Chord could perform 35 sessions every month for a whole year benefiting more than 850 people struggling with dementia every single month.”

To find out more about Lost Chord and its work with dementia simply visit www.lost-chord.org.uk website.