The High Sheriff was kindly invited to attend a charity evening, on behalf of the President, The Rev. Canon Mark Oakley, Chancellor of St. Paul’s Cathedral, and Chairwoman, Mrs Donna Hamer,  of the Shropshire Horticultural Society, held in order to raise funds for Combat Stress at St Chad’s Church, Shrewsbury. Combat Stress is a charity that cares for veterans suffering mental illness following their experiences. This was a ‘Wilfred Owen’ charity event where a tribute was paid to this world renowned Shropshire poet and soldier.

Refreshments welcomed guests on arrival to the church, where one could speak to representatives of Combat Stress and see papier mache models of WW1 soldiers. There were raffle tickets and auction prizes to be won.

The welcome and introduction was given byThe Rev, Canon Mark Otley Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral, London and President of the Shropshire Horticultural Society. Author Dr Guy Cuthbertson gave a talk on his biography on Wilfred Owen.

Then followed an introduction on Combat Stress, detailing the work of the organisation, with selected poems written by veterans.

There was also a performance of 2 Wilfred Owen poems put to music and sung: ‘How do I Love Thee?’ and ‘Storm’. The music was composed by Paul Crabtree, and sung by Patrick Craig and accompanied by Alex Mason.