DAWLISH mayor Cllr Howard Almond hosted a ‘brilliant’ evening at the Manor featuring Words for Voices, a group of four trained actors, with accompanying musicians, who perform across Devon in support of a wide range of charitable causes.

Their unique shows are eclectic mixtures of poems, dialogues, dramatised readings and songs, chosen to suit the seasons of the year.

From laugh-out-loud comedy to searing pathos, they captivate audiences, and the special Valentine’s performance of All for Love, had everything from Shakespeare to Wind in the Willows, via Wendy Cope and Victoria Wood.

A reading from a 1950s women’s magazine brought howls of laughter from the audience.

Cllr Almond’s chosen charity is the Shaldon-based Helen Foundation, which supports young people’s aspirations in the arts.

Foundation chairman Roger Kirk said: ‘This was a brilliant evening of high-class entertainment. We are very grateful to the mayor and the performers for their work on our behalf.’

The Helen Foundation benefited more than 3,000 young people across Teignbridge in 2015 through school-based arts-workshops, individual bursaries, and prizes and special arts projects in schools and in the wider community.

Words for Voices is planning a special Christmas show in the music room at Powderham Castle on December 14 to benefit the foundation, now in its tenth year.