Delighted: staff, residents and families at the Purley home could barely believe their luck when Emili Sande arrived to sing for them in a special Christmas treat
Emeli Sande, the A-list singer-songwriter who has performed before live audiences of hundreds of thousands of people around the world, astonished and delighted the residents of a Purley care home when she turned up for a pre-Christmas sing-song.
Class act: Emili Sande in Purley
Sande visited Chestnut Gardens to entertain residents and their families for a special Christmas treat.
Sande was the star turn at the London Olympics opening ceremony, but in a break from playing sold-out arena venues, Sande performed an intimate gig just for the staff, residents and their families.
“The whole home was blown away by Emeli’s generosity in taking the time to come to the home and entertain them with her amazing vocals and her fabulous back catalogue of hits,” according to the staff at Chestnut Gardens.
“We are so grateful to Emeli for offering to come and perform a concert just for us, we really had to pinch ourselves to believe it was happening!” said Gayane Selimyan, the manager of the home.
“Everyone was so excited! We all feel incredibly blessed that singing royalty like Emeli came to visit us at Chestnut Gardens.
Time to talk: singer Sande chatted with residents at Chestnut Gardens
“It felt like the best Christmas present in the world and one I am sure we will remember and treasure forever.
“We all want to thank Emeli from the bottom of our hearts.”
Sheila Smith, aged 97, one of the residents, said, “Emeli has the most amazing voice, it was wonderful to hear her singing just for us. We all had the most fantastic time, it was so kind of her to come and visit us.
“It is all anyone can talk about, just how lucky we are that she chose our home to come and perform at! What an absolutely marvellous thing to happen!”
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