NINE-year-old Maggie Walker of Clevelode, near Malvern threw a birthday party with a difference last weekend.

Instead of party games and a magician, Maggie and five of her friends put on a fund-raising concert at Malvern College in aid of St Richard’s Hospice. An audience of about 30 people came to support the event and £400 was raised for the charity.

Maggie was inspired to fundraise for St Richard’s Hospice by the experience of her family friend and neighbour Catriona Craig, who was given end-of-life palliative care at the hospice last summer. Maggie visited Catriona while she was at the hospice and was so inspired that she decided she wanted to give something back in Catriona’s memory.

As she comes from a musical family, a concert was an obvious choice, and the audience was entertained for 40 minutes with a diverse selection of music.

The programme included The Bare Necessities from The Jungle Book and Nessun Dorma from Puccini’s Turandot, which Maggie herself played on the French horn.

Maggie and her friends were accompanied on the piano by her father Allan Walker with additional support from her grandfather Richard Walker on the double bass and grandmother Gay Walker on the French horn.

Maggie is a pupil at Malvern St James girls' school and the concert was attended by head Patricia Woodhouse and head of prep Marina Stentiford along with many of Maggie’s friends and their parents.

Anyone who wants to contribute should contact justgiving.com/MaggieWalker2007/.