A SINGER is to perform at one of the region’s oldest workingmen’s clubs to raise money for the grieving families in the South Wales colliery disaster.

Sunderland-based crooner Andy Barker is staging his Buble, Sinatra & Friends show at Hetton and District Working Men's Social Club, in Hetton-le-Hole, Wearside on Thursday, November 10 at 7pm.

The show will raise money for the families of the four miners who died after becoming trapped underground at the Gleision Colliery, in the Swansea Valley.

The singer said: "Unlike the Chilean miner's crisis there was no happy ending in South Wales.

"The families of the four miners are now facing their first Christmas without their loved ones and also an uncertain financial future.

"I was raised in the mining community of Hetton-le-Hole and believe that while the pits are long gone, the spirit and solidarity of its industrial past are still strong today.

"Hopefully this is a chance for people to come together, have a good night and also raise some valuable funds for a much deserved cause."

Hetton Working Men's Social Club chairman Alan Archbold added: Buble, Sinatra & Friends show "This year community commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Easington and Eppleton Colliery disasters which many people in this area can still remember.

"It is only right and proper that we show what we can do as a mining community to pull together and help the families of the Welsh miners in their hour of need."

Tickets for the show cost £2 and are available from the club on 0191-526 2135.