A national charity helpline providing support to thousands of children across the UK when they need it the most has received a £24,000 boost as the result of a fundraising opera evening, featuring some of the country’s most accomplished musicians.

The National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS) hosted the gala evening at Thornton Manor on the Wirral, inviting guests from across the private sector to attend in a bid to raise funds for its dedicated helpline.

NYAS is a rights based charity operating across England and Wales for children, young people and adults, providing them with advocacy and legal representation when important decisions are being made about them. The children and young people NYAS works with might be in care, have a disability or special needs, be subject to child protection plans, have mental health difficulties or have parents who are separating.

The NYAS helpline, lies at the heart of the charity and receives more than 25,000 contacts each year from children, young people and children’s service professionals. The service gives thousands of children access to the help they are in desperate need of but it costs £170,000 to run each year and is completely unfunded.

Funds raised by the gala opera evening will go directly to support the continued operation of the helpline. The evening was sponsored by Miton Group plc (Miton) an organisation which has donated £78,233 to NYAS as part of a three-year partnership which saw the asset management group hold a series of events dedicated to raising funds for the NYAS helpline.

Entertainment at the NYAS opera evening was provided by international tenor, Peter Auty, soprano, Verity Parker and highly acclaimed pianist, Charlotte Forrest. Peter is one of Britain’s leading tenors and has worked with many of the world’s most successful opera companies. Peter sang alongside Verity, who studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the National Opera Studio, with the duo treating the audience to a selection of some of operas best-known arias.

Speaking about the event, Rita Waters, CEO of NYAS said, “Our charity felt very privileged to have hosted this event in the magical setting of Thornton Manor and featuring such magnificent performances from Peter, Verity and Charlotte. We are extremely grateful for their involvement and for the invaluable support of Miton who made the evening possible. Miton’s financial support, combined with the hugely generous donations made by all those who attended our opera evening will make a significant difference to the lives of thousands of vulnerable children, whom we wouldn’t be able to reach out to otherwise.”