Two choirs have raised almost £1,500 for a fundraising appeal to bring eye surgery to the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton.

The appeal, by the Friends of the Friarage charity, aims to raise £200,000 buy high-tech equipment for vireo-retinal (VR) surgery for the hospital's new surgical hub.

Members of the Friends group recently visited Leyburn Ladies Choir at their home in Leyburn Methodist Church, where they accepted a donation of £730 for the appeal.

Treasurer, Wendy Grannan, previously got in touch with the charity to tell them the choir was supporting the appeal, as few members, or their family, have eye conditions and are patients at the Friarage.

Choir leader, Ruth Biker, explained how the group holds two main concerts a year, in the spring and at Christmas, and had decided that for their spring concert in May they would support Friends of the Friarage. Ruth also happens to be the accompanist for East Witton Male Voice Choir, who, with Diana Hartley as conductor, also held a collection in aid of the Eye Appeal at their own spring concert, which raised a £743. Between the two choirs, a total of £1,473 has been raised from their crowd of loyal supporters.

Ruth said: "It's astonishing the amount we raised on the nights, we are always so very grateful for the generosity of our audiences.”

The choir currently has about 25 members and sings everything from Mozart to musicals. They were established in 1971, and started life as a Young Wives choir, evolving into Leyburn Ladies Choir, with some of those original members still part of the group. The choir usually meets for practice on Monday afternoons but are currently on a break for the summer, with rehearsals due to resume again in September. New members are always welcome.

A spokesperson for the Friends of the Friarage said the group "is incredibly grateful to both choirs for thinking of them in their fundraising efforts and would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who donated on the night".