STARS put on a show in Worcester for children whose wish it was to attend a pop concert.

Excited children screamed for Kingsland Road, one of this year’s X Factor contestants, at the concert put on by volunteers from the Worcester Community Trust.

Val Yates, chairman of the trust, said the concert was an opportunity to change how the charity was seen by the public. She said: “We’re trying to raise awareness that these things aren’t funded anymore and rather than people assuming their council tax pays for these things we want to be seen as an actual community and not a charity.” She said the concert, at the University of Worcester Arena, was put together in under a month. It was not advertised because the trust wanted to keep it as a celebration for the children of Worcester and their families.

Compere John Bray, of Kempsey, said: “This ought to bring a smile on their faces better than pound notes.”

About 800 tickets had been sold for the 2,000-seat event which featured the likes of Olly Murs and Gary Barlow tribute acts, as well as ex-Britain’s Got Talent contestants Stavros Flatley. Olly Murs tribute Andy Hamersley said he would like to come back next year if the trust made it an annual event. Gary Barlow tribute Gary Smith treated parents to some classic songs along with recent releases by singing Greatest Day, Back for Good, Let Me Go and Never Forget. Perry Wood Primary School pupil Chloe Welch said she and her friends had come to see Kingsland Road. “I want to see Kingsland Road because they are really good at singing and we want to get their autographs,” she said.

Abbie Greenbridge, from the Oasis Academy in Warndon, said she wanted to see Stavros Flatley because they were funny.