About

So please help me raise my target or even better beat it. THE HOLFORD FAMILY WILL MATCH THE FIRST £2,000 raised.

My 26 target yesterday was the 2.6 kilometres I rode on my exercise bike. You might think that this was not very far but for someone who has recently had a knee operation it's a long way – in fact it was twice as far as I had been before. I did it in aid of our charity, Les Azuriales Opera Trust, to support young opera singers in the UK who are all self-employed and some of whom are not entitled to government support. A number of our alumni have asked us to help them. In addition for many years Les Azuriales has supported Voices of South Africa which runs a Young Artist programme in Cape Town. Currently the major problem for young singers in South Africa is that many are struggling to buy food. So some of the money raised will go to support Voices of South Africa’s food programme.

My wife, Sarah, founded Les Azuriales Opera in 1997 and since then I've helped her raise money to support its activities. For 18 years part of Les Azuriales, and now its main focus, has been supporting young singers. So we are passionate about doing all we can for them and especially now. I have also been going to South Africa for more than 50 years and since 2012 Les Azuriales has also been supporting Voices of South Africa which has been doing amazing work promoting the careers of young South African singers, a number of whom have found international careers. In this crisis they really need our help. 

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