A STOURPORT volunteer did not let the rain get in the way of him tuning up when he belted out canal songs in the town to raise cash for the Bramble Appeal.

Stourport Forward’s Geoff Shaw treated visitors to the Stourport Basins Pirate Weekend to 30 minutes of songs of the canal and sea on Saturday.

He collected £17.37 in donations, which will go towards restoring the working canal boat to its former glory.

Due to the downpours, Mr Shaw had to sing to visitors and play his banjo inside the Stourport Yacht Club.

He said: "Almost all of the songs were about the life on the canals and were both old songs from over 150 years ago and some written in the last few years.

“What I like about them is that they are like a musical history book - they tell us both facts and how people felt about working on canals."

Liz Sheerin, manager of Stourport Forward, said: “We all thoroughly enjoyed Geoff’s captivating performance, which he accompanied on both the guitar and the banjo and we are extremely grateful to him for all his support, both through raising funds for Bramble and for his many other roles for Stourport Forward.

“It was a lovely interlude. We hope that local people, businesses and schools will continue to support the Bramble appeal, as we still need to raise more funds to restore Bramble to her former glory.”