WORCESTER Ukulele Club has been named as one of the top 20 clubs in the world.

The list compiled by American website Ukelele Music Info put the club at number 14 ahead of other groups from Japan, the Philippines and Singapore.

Carl Box, committee member of Worcester Ukulele Club, said: "It kind of took us by surprise but obviously we're very thrilled."

"What the website had to say about us is very true."

The club was also the highest placed UK entry ranking above Unplugthewood in Aldershot.

The review on the website read: "Worcester Ukulele Club boasts being the template for an established and organised ukulele group.

"The club follows a very formal structure having its very own constitution and recorded minutes of the meeting for every meet up.

"Their very organised website also has a songbook arranged chronologically and alphabetically available for download.

"The club is very active in their participation with community and charity work wherein every year they have a chosen charity organisation that they closely collaborate with."

Last year, the club raised nearly £5,500 for the Midlands Air Ambulance and have chosen Alzheimer's Society as their charity this year.

"We play around 80 gigs a year and the money we raise from the gigs goes to charity," said Mr Box.

The club play all manner of events including weddings, fetes, car shows and fundraisers. They most recently played at Worcester Foodie Festival.

The ukulele club began in humble beginnings with around six members about seven years ago.

The club moved to the Elgar School of Music and later to Drummond's before settling in at the Rendezvous Bar in the Fownes Hotel.

"When the club started it was mostly older people and mostly men, now we have a group of about 40 women.

"The group now is still towards the older age of the spectrum but we do have some young people from time to time," said Mr Box.

There are over 100 members on the club's mailing list with between 50 and 60 members regularly turning and a new member joining most months.

The most enjoyable aspect of playing the ukulele, for Mr Box, is discovering you can do it.

"You can't really play the ukulele without singing, when people find they can do it they start to enjoy it," he said.

"We have different people take charge of the group every week so we play a variety of music and it's always different."

Worcester Ukelele Club meet every Monday from 7.30pm in Rendezvous Bar, Fownes Hotel, City Walls Road, Worcester.

For more information visit worcester-uke-club.co.uk or facebook.com/WorcesterUkuleleClub.