A NEW music event set to take place in Vigo Park this summer has announced support for its second local charity.

Event chair for Andover Town Council, Councillor Richard Rowles, has announced that the Countess of Brecknock Hospice, which provides palliative care at Andover War Memorial Hospital, will financially benefit from proceeds from Andover Proms.

As previously reported by this paper, members of the community engagement committee organised a meeting to look into plans for a ‘Proms in the Park’ event for the town.

A working group was created to organise the event, which their mandate says “will be be both affordable and fun for residents.”

The hospice, which provides specialist care for people with any lifelimiting illness, is currently going through a £6m fundraising drive to build an extension on their Charlton Road site.

Hospice trust director, Sarah Redhead, said: “The timing is excellent.

“We have about £3m from grants and reserves which means we are looking for £3m more to help build 10 new inpatient rooms, a much larger day centre and better facilities for everybody”.

“We are very excited about working with Richard and the Proms Team, this will be a fantastic event for the town”.

Proms in the Park already announced its support for Andover Mind and will be announcing acts and a full programme of events soon.

Event plans include live music from local acts as well as presenting the Last Night of the Proms from the Albert Hall live on a big screen in Vigo Park on Saturday, September 9.

Cllr Rowles said: “The Brecknock Hospice is a superb charity there are very few people in Andover and the surrounding area whose lives have not been touched by their work.”