Community members have a chance to attend a fundraising concert to support the Absolutely Everybody Choir Port Macquarie Hastings School of Hard Knocks.

Dr Jonathon Welch, School of Hard Knocks founder, will be the special guest at the Port Macquarie-Hastings choir’s first fundraising concert at St Columba Anglican School Chapel on November 12 from 4pm to 5.30pm.

Choir coordinator Katrina Humble said the past 12 months had been a huge success for the choir and the members.

“It is a profoundly beautiful choir in the way that they connect, and the way they have found acceptance and a family,” Mrs Humble said.

“That has given them the courage and the confidence to go ahead and do other things.”

Concert tickets cost $22 and are on sale through www.eventbrite.com.au​

It will be a breakthrough performance for the group of singers, some emerging soloists, and a duo performing their own composition.

Dr Welch will conduct a workshop with the choir and volunteers before the main event.

Choir director Marie van Gend said the choir was wonderful because the people came together with such an incredible and generous spirit.

She said the first headline concert was a chance for the choir to showcase its achievements and share the joy.

“There is a joy that comes from their singing that you very seldom encounter in any other context,” Mrs van Gend said.

The choir has developed an extensive repertoire with choir director Marie van Gend, assistant choir director Ruth Allen and accompanist Miriam Lattimore at rehearsals every Tuesday morning at the Port Macquarie Conservatorium.

They are supported by choir coordinator Katrina Humble, volunteer coordinator Judy Ryan and up to 14 regular volunteers who sing and prepare lunch provided by REAP Food rescue.

The Absolutely Everybody Choir Port Macquarie Hastings School of Hard Knocks is NSW’s first regional choir launched in February 2016 through the Port Macquarie Community College.

The choir is open to anyone living with challenges including those with disabilities, homeless, mental ill health, at risk or those who have experienced domestic violence.

They sing, make new friends and now take their next big step into their first independent concert.

The concert marks the beginning of the choir’s major fundraising campaign inviting local businesses and individuals to support its major sponsorship drive and crowd funding programs.