Exmouth Town Concert Band has chosen the South West MS Centre as its charity of the year for 2018.

Following an application process from local groups and charities, band members of the band voted for the cause they wanted to benefit from fundraising efforts over the next 12 months.

The centre, which receives no statutory funding, needs more than £175,000 this year alone to help people across the South West who are dealing with multiple sclerosis. The charity provides therapies, information and support for people with multiple sclerosis, their carers and families across the region.

Throughout 2018, the centre will benefit from programme sales and retiring collections at the band’s formal concerts and it is hoped that a number of other events and initiatives still in the works will drive the fundraising total even higher.

Tracey Skinner, fundraising manager for the charity, said that everyone at the centre was ‘thrilled to have been chosen as the charity of the year for 2018’ and that the band’s efforts will ‘support our Centre and the hundreds of people who we help each year deal with the challenges of living with MS and other neurological conditions’.

Jackson Hammond, vice-chairman of Exmouth Town Concert Band, commented on the band’s continued commitment to local good causes, saying: “This is our third year of supporting a charity of the year and, since 2016, we have raised over £1,000 for the Devon Freewheelers and the Devon Air Ambulance Trust. We are looking forward to working with and supporting the South West MS Centre this year as this is a charity particularly close to the band’s heart. We’d like to thank our loyal supporters for helping us to raise such great sums of money for charity in recent years and we’re sure that this year their efforts will be just as excellent!”

The band’s first event in support of the centre is its Spring Concert on Wednesday, April 25, at Holy Trinity Church. Tickets are on sale now and are available online or from Antonio’s in the Strand for £5 each. For more information visit www.exmouthtownconcertband.org.uk.