MEMBERS of a Basingstoke choir sang at a running race to raise money for the charity Missing People.

Nearly 50 members of the Basingstoke Rock Choir travelled by coach to Regent’s Park in London to sing before the start of the 10k Miles for Missing People run.

Running in the event were Kate and Gerry McCann, whose daughter Madeleine went missing in 2007 when she was just three-years-old, while on holiday with her family in Portugal.

On her justgiving website, Mrs McCann said the charity is “hugely important” and offers a “lifeline to everybody affected by a disappearance.”

Basingstoke Rock Choir leader Glen Harvey joined the McCanns in the 10k race, along with more than 60 other members from his choirs.

He also helped lead 600 Rock Choir members from across the south in a mass singing performance, to entertain the runners before they set off, and celebrities including ITV This Morning’s Gloria Hunniford and children’s TV presenter Kirsten O’Brien.

The rain prevented a second performance taking place after the event, but instead the Rock Choir members sang unaccompanied.

Glen, who runs the Basingstoke Rock Choir at Cranbourne Business and Enterprise College, was awarded a prize for raising £5,447. 

He said: “I was delighted to take part, along with our amazing Rock Choir members, and we’re over the moon to have raised so much money for Missing People. I’m really proud of our singing, running and fund-raising, and I’d like to say a big Rock Choir thank you to everyone who gave so generously.”