Among the proliferation of choirs in Oxfordshire, the Kennington and District United Church Choirs stands apart. While some choirs might take part in the occasional charity bash, this exceptional group of singers only ever performs for worthy causes, and in its 36 years of existence has raised more than £300,000 for local, national and overseas charities.

Like many good things, the KDUCC came about by accident. “It began with a carol service,” explains Trevor Cowlett (pictured right), who formed the choir in 1973 and has been the musical director ever since.

“There are three churches in Kennington – Anglican, Catholic and Methodist – and it was suggested that perhaps the three churches might like to get together to do a carol service. That was the Christmas of 1973. Various people came and enjoyed it, so we were asked to do it again. From there it just gradually grew.”

Very soon, the choir had settled into a pattern of doing a large-scale oratorio in the spring, a Gilbert and Sullivan in the summer (with principals provided by Abingdon and Oxford Operatic societies), Messiah in the autumn and a carol service at Christmas. Over the years it has covered just about the entire Gilbert and Sullivan canon, as well as other light operas such as Die Fledermaus, La Vie Parisienne and The Merry Widow, and much of the standard choral repertoire.

“Looking at the list of things that we’ve sung, it’s absolutely amazing,” says Trevor. “All our singers are amateurs, and we don’t do auditions, so technically anybody can come along and sing, which is interesting because people who thought that they could never do anything like this find that they can. They will stand next to somebody who’s a bit more expert than they are, and they get carried along, and so the thing flourishes.

‘They’re a lovely crowd of people. It’s a very happy choir, and a very friendly choir. At the moment we’re about 80-strong, and new people are still coming. Of course you have to have discipline, so that you can produce what you’re trying to produce, but they’re all very good and very keen, and they want to do well.”

Trevor is the ideal person to draw the best from the singers. A former organ scholar of Hertford College, he first played for church services at the tender age of 12, when adult organists were in short supply as a consequence of National Service. He went on to teach in schools, and now has his own private music practice, teaching piano, organ, keyboard and singing. He combines all this experience with an irresistible sense of fun; this is a man who knows how to put his foot down, but does so with a twinkle in his eye.

“He’s full of fun and laughter,” says choir member Amena Sutton, who has been singing with the KDUCC for 25 years. “He really cares for the singers, but at the same time he’s somebody who really understands the music, and that’s why we can sing such a range of things. He certainly keeps us entertained, and people come because they just like singing with him. He’s very special in that respect.”

Amid all the fun, of course, there is serious intent. Every concert is a fundraising event, and over the years a wide range of charities has benefited. “We always said that we won’t have tickets, we’re not going to charge people to come, we’ll let them come in for nothing,” says Trevor. “We’ll pass the buckets around at half-time, we’ll choose some interesting charities and see what happens. And it was from that that this phenomenal amount of money that we’ve made has come. Nobody was ever asked to give anything, people just gave what they wanted to give. We must have supported something like about 100 charities one way and another.”

Those charities range from national charities such as Mencap, Save the Children and Christian Aid, to local charities and projects such as Oxsrad, Helen House, Kennington Overseas Aid and Penhurst School for special needs children in Chipping Norton.

“We’ve just finished Iolanthe which raised £10,000 for Kennington Overseas Aid, which this year is for a school in Zambia. We shall be doing Messiah again soon, for the Mali Development Fund, and then at Christmas we are doing Ruddigore, and that again will be for the Penhurst School in Chipping Norton. “We go wherever we are invited, where there’s a guaranteed audience. We have a very large following of people who are always in the audience, so we seem to be doing sort of the right thing! We have a generous anonymous donor who gives a little help. But basically we rely on what people give, and it’s just amazing.”

What is even more amazing is that a group of singers from a small Oxfordshire village has touched the lives of so many people across the globe. Now that is truly remarkable.

KDUCC’s Messiah at St Swithun’s Parish Church, Kennington, on Sunday, October 11, at 3pm. Admission free; collection for the Mali Development Fund. For more information, visit www.kenningtonchoir.org.uk.