living advent 16-21

A BAND that first performed at Henley’s Living Advent Calendar 10 years ago returned as the surprise act on Sunday.

The Average Wife Band first took to the stage upstairs in the town hall in 2015, four years after the event began in 2011.

It is described by singer Lucie Henwood as “Henley’s answer to the Riot Women” and also features saxophonists Caryn Moberly, Jenny Plumber, Sue Fitzsimons and Raffy Spring with Tina Jacobs on acoustic guitar, Jenny Day on keyboard, Gail Rosier on bass, Andy Crowdy on guitar, Simon Spring on drums and Richard Vanryne on trumpet.

They performed a variety of Christmas and popular songs to a packed audience at Henley Rugby Club in Marlow Road.

They played covers of songs including Dancing in the Moonlight by Toploader, Hey Mister Snowman by Kim Wilde and Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty.

The night was held in aid of beneficiaries Camp Mohawk, a specialist day centre for children and young people with special needs, located in Wargrave. On Saturday night the calendar was held at the newly opened Flyte Bar in Market Place.

The bar in the former Green Room hosted soul singer Jamie Bruce as the surprise act for night 20 of the calendar.

He sang a number of hits including Never Too Much by Luther Vandross, You to Me Are Everything by the Real Thing and the Band Aid single, Do They Know It’s Christmas?

Bar manager Daniel Banks said that the event was so busy that he had had to start turning people away.

He said: “It was the first one we have ever done as we have only been open for three weeks. It was a great event to get everyone involved.”

He described the night as “beautiful chaos”, adding: “It’s something we will do again but something we will be better prepared for!” Last Friday night, four-piece band Highly Strung performed at the Eyot Centre in Wargrave Road.

The night was held in aid of the centre, which provides access to social and river-based activities for the young people of Henley and the surrounding areas.

It also offers young adults the chance to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award as an extracurricular activity outside of school.

Centre manager Sue Perry-Whitehead described the band as “brilliant” and said that the cover of Valerie by Amy Winehouse had “everyone up on their feet”.

She added that she was very grateful for the raffle prizes that had been donated which included a six-person taste and tour experience at Fairmile Vineyard which she described as “so generous”.

The centre also raffled off some of its own experiences, including a canoe trip for two people, a four-person dragon boat experience, and a bell boating session for 10 people.

On Thursday last week, crowds at the Bull on Bell Street were surprised by a performance from Rory Evans and Oliver Weikert from Wallingford, known as the Cover Buoys.

The duo sang for guests in Santa hats and Christmas jumpers, accompanied by Mr Evans on the acoustic guitar.

They walked around the restaurant floor, singing to guests at tables before making their way back to the small stage set up in the courtyard of the pub.

The duo played Christmas favourites, including Slade’s Merry Xmas Everybody and Shakin’ Stevens’s Merry Christmas Everyone, as well as George Ezra’s Shotgun.

The event raised about £450 for the Burnt Chef Project, which aims to provide mental health and wellbeing support for those working in hospitality.

Sophia Kent, assistant manager at the Bull, said: “We decided to put out a poll on our work group chat to ask the team which charities they wanted us to support this year.

“The charity that was the most suggested was the Burnt Chef Project.”

Ms Kent added that Brakspear, which owns the pub, was going to donate an additional 25 per cent to the money raised.

Kris Hall, chief executive and founder of the Burnt Chef Project, said: “Henley is beautiful and there’s loads of hospitality businesses. We represent the wellbeing and focus on people in hospitality, because we don’t talk about mental health in the industry.”

On Wednesday last week, Reading Operatic Society entertained residents gathered in front of the Christmas Tree in Market Place.

Fourteen members performed a mixture of Christmas carols and songs from Seussical, which the group will be performing at the Kenton Theatre this April. Songs included Walking in a Winter Wonderland and O Holy Night.

On Tuesday last week, crowds packed out the d:two centre for a musical performance featuring members of the church.

The night was opened by Stuart Colam and Candice Goodwill who sang Light of the World, with Mr Colam accompanying on piano.

They were then joined by young members of the church who sang Witness of Christmas.

Church leader Jeremy Bray then addressed the crowd and spoke about the experience of other Christians living around the world.

He played a video of the Umessamessa Uniris Choir performing in the village of Miesi, Mozambique.

The choir sang Nkele, inside a church that was nearly destroyed by a cyclone in late 2024.

Mr Bray said: “People in tragedy and trauma can still worship God, and that’s what we hope to do in this church here. And I feel very moved when I watch that.”

The night was held in aid of Nomad youth project, which is based at the centre and runs a food bank.

Mr Bray said: “They do incredible work in this community and it goes under the surface quite a bit.”