DOZENS of young performers took to the streets of Ipswich town centre to serenade shoppers and collect cash for an animal rescue charity.

DOZENS of young performers took to the streets of Ipswich town centre to serenade shoppers and collect cash for an animal rescue charity.

About 60 children from the Stagecoach Theatre School were singing their hearts out on Tavern Street at the top of Cornhill and crowds of people were making donations to the group, which will be passed on to the team at the RSPCA centre in Martlesham.

With rousing renditions of popular ABBA hits and some more contemporary tunes on the bill, the boys and girls sang for an entertaining two hours.

School principal Sarah Corbett said the children had chosen the charity themselves and had made signs and posters advertising the event.

She said: “There are 200 children involved in the weekend theatre school and about 60 of them got involved in this event.

“I reckon we'll raise less money than last year because of the credit crunch, but they have done really well.

“They had to learn everything off by heart and they've also made all the banners and signs. They chose to raise money for RSPCA Martlesham - if you give them a choice they always pick out the animal charities.

“This is something we do every year, though, and they have raised so much money for charity already - this will make it even more.

“I'm really proud of all of them.”