A TEENAGE choir from Canada will visit Pendle next week to sing and make new friends on an exchange visit.

Thirty boys and girls aged 14 to 18 from Collingwood School, Vancouver, will spend four days of their two-week UK tour with families of children from Nelson Civic Junior Choir.

A programme of outings and social events has been arranged, and the visitors will sing at Colne Parish Church for the Palm Sunday morning service on March 23.

Later the same day, both choirs will present a joint concert at Pendle Hippodrome, Colne.

The exchange came about after Nelson juniors' conductor David Wilkinson was put back in touch with Yorkshireman Graham Baldwin, who was a fellow teacher-training student more than 30 years ago.

Mr Baldwin is now headmaster of the 1,000-pupil Collingwood private school.

Mr Wilkinson said: "Our visitors are one the top youth choirs in Canada, and they tour every three years.

"This is the second time they have visited the UK. We're looking forward to welcoming them to Pendle."

In September, Nelson Civic Junior Choir is spending two weeks in Vancouver, and a big fund-raising push is under way to find the £18,000 they need.

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