Hackney musicians organised a fundraising concert for child victims of a humanitarian crisis on Saturday.

The event, which was held at St John of Jerusalem church in Lauriston Road, South Hackney, raised £3,000 in funds for people in Syria.

The event was attended by about 250 people with performances from professional musicians including soprano Emma Dogliani and violinist Kate Conway as well as local choirs The Hackney Singers, The Victoria Park Singers and St John of Jerusalem festival chorus.

Woven Gold, a group of people who left their own countries because of persecution and are being helped to rebuild their lives through music making, also performed.

There was a talk by Gill Newman, The Bishop of Stepney’s wife, who had visited a refugee camp in Syria. She recounted the appalling conditions she had seen there and how a Syrian woman reminded her that Syrians had lives similar to those from London with security, food, shelter, medical attention, education and cultural activities up until the war.

Organiser Rev Andrew Wilson said: “This was a special and important evening for us. I’m so grateful to all the musicians who gave their time for free and to everyone who came - for being so generous. We just had buckets on the day for people to leave money. We were really thrilled to raise that amount. The combination of musicians and neighbourhood coming together to do some good in the world was wonderful.”

The funds raised will go to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) which works with Syrian children both inside Syria and in the surrounding countries which have taken in Syrian refugees, including Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq.