Doncaster Ukulele Group

Prince William is an Aston Villa fan and now it looks like King Charles is a DUG fan, quick Carl sign him up for Cusworth

What a Spring season it’s been for our group! We’ve had some fantastic gigs in Warmsworth, Epworth and Haxey (with our amazingly talented friends in Take Note Choir!!) and raised even more funds along the way which we donate to the William Appleby Music Trust.

Then the icing on the cake came exactly a week ago, last Saturday morning when we were invited to Mansion House to receive a special award from Doncaster’s Civic Mayor, Councillor Tim Needham, in recognition of all of our community work and fundraising over the last 10 and a half years!

This award means the world to our group and it’s a real honour to have been recognised in this way. It’s one thing, coming together and making music on a weekly basis, but our group is so much more than just the music. The community and fundraising side to our group over the course of our existence is at the heart of everything we do and we couldn’t do it without the support of everybody that comes to sessions or comes to watch us at performances, or gets us along to your events to perform etc. Thank you to everybody that has been on that journey with us so far! The award is for all of you! 👏

On a separate note, I (Carl.. the bloke who waves the conducting stick around at the front of gigs), also received an award on the day, which was a complete surprise, for my leadership of the group. I just wanted to also say thank you to everybody from me personally because that was such a special thing to receive. It was a very proud moment hanging that award up on my music room wall! 🙂

Special thanks goes to our Civic Mayor Tim, who isn’t just our Mayor… He’s one of us too. He’s a ukulele player and we’ve been lucky to have Tim join us on several occasions as Mayor this year. As a group we’re proud to see what Tim’s been up to as Mayor over the last year and we’re so thankful that he’s been able to recognise our community and fundraising work and join us for some ukulele gigs too!

What a great 10 year anniversary it’s been for Doncaster Ukulele Group!

From all of us at Doncaster Ukulele Group! 🎶🎶🎶🎅🎅🎅

After a couple of lovely Christmas gigs in Warmsworth and Barnburgh recently, tonight sees our annual visit to Rossington St Michael’s Church. Always a highlight in our calendar!

£6 on the door, includes mince pies and mulled wine, 6:30 doors, 7pm show starts.

We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

One of our amazing special guests at our recent 10th Anniversary show at CAST was the Doncaster Schools Vermuyden Concert Band. Under leadership of Karen & Colin Latimer, we’re sure you’ll agree that the band is an absolutely class act! When we donate our funds to support the progression of bands like this, it really makes it all worthwhile and rewarding for us too. Check out their performance below!

If you have children / grandchildren in a Doncaster school please get in touch with your school or Doncaster Music Service to enquire about getting instrumental lessons for your youngsters, then they too could be performing in an outfit like the Vermuyden Concert Band in the future!

Doncaster Schools Vermuyden Concert Band @ CAST Theatre, Doncaster. September 24th 2025 DSVCB were special guests at Doncaster Ukulele Group's 10th Anniversary celebration concert at CAST Theatre, Doncaster on 24th September 2025. What a brillia...

🎶🎶🎶 And that’s a wrap! 🎶🎶🎶

We’re 3 days on from the 10th Anniversary show at CAST and I’ve finally managed to clear some headspace to sit and write this. It was everything we dreamed it could be, and more. I don’t think any words on this post can do justice to that evening. You had to be there! (And you were there… in your hundreds!!)

Thank you to everyone involved in making the night happen - our amazing special guest performers, our sponsors and VIPs, the venue team for looking after us, everyone involved beforehand with T-shirts, programmes etc and our brilliant committee and stage manager Hayley who made sure I didn’t go crazy with all the planning and implementing of the logistics of running a show like that!

Thank you to everyone who came along and supported the night by buying tickets. Some of you travelled quite a distance to be with us and we’re so grateful for the support! Looking out from the stage at a packed house is the stuff of dreams for us. And it was packed! Thank you!

Lastly, and most importantly, thank you and well done to all of our group members for coming together to make it happen - all the rehearsals, the late nights, the meetings, the documents, the emails etc. it was all worth it! Everyone rose to the occasion, and I could not be a prouder leader!

Someone said to me “it felt like an occasion. Like a wedding. Like a really significant day that everyone in the room feels really invested in going well”. I agree. Everyone made it a magical night.

I started out by saying no words on this post could do the night justice. And reading back what I’ve just written, it really doesn’t fully capture the absolute euphoria of that night and what it means to all of us that were involved. But, if you were there, you’ll get it… it was so special.

Our brilliant official photographer Phil is hard at work getting hundreds of images from the night ready for us (thank you Phil!!) so for now, here’s just one photo, courtesy of Sally Jameson. And to anyone who thinks it was a shame that the night wasn’t recorded… guess what… it was! Paul sneakily set up a camera to record the whole night from the sound desk and we’ll share it with all of our performers soon! 🎥🎥

Oh, and we don’t have the official figures yet, but everyone involved in the night has helped us to donate a LOT of money to the William Appleby Memorial Trust too, some of that money (from our generous sponsors) is already being used to help kids make music in school. 👏

❤️ Thank you all. ❤️
Carl
(The bloke at the front waving a ukulele around and telling bad jokes!)

⏰ 1 sleep to go! ⏰

This time tomorrow we will be there, on stage, looking out at so many of our family and friends! We can’t wait to share the biggest night in Doncaster Ukulele Group history with you all!

At time of writing there are just 5 tickets left downstairs and about a row and a half upstairs. This blows our minds! Limited tickets available via this link but be quick! https://www.castindoncaster.com/whats-on/doncaster-ukulele-group-10th-anniversary-concert/

Here’s some setlist clues: tomorrow we’ll be sending a Rocket to a Bad Moon to Rock all over the World whilst Surfin’ to Waterloo. Oh Boy are we in for a good night!

Doors at 6:45, show starts at 7:15pm.

It’s almost here, our big one, our special, one night only 10th Anniversary celebration concert!

See you there!! 🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

⏰ 2 sleeps to go! ⏰

We can hardly believe it – in just two days our big Doncaster Ukulele Group 10th Anniversary Concert will take place at CAST, this Wednesday! 🎶✨

But more important than the music, laughter, and celebration is what this night will help us achieve together.
All proceeds from the concert will be donated to the William Appleby Memorial Trust (WAMT) – a charity that has supported the work of Doncaster Music Service and generations of young musicians in Doncaster with instruments, lessons, and opportunities to grow. 🎵

We’re incredibly proud that our anniversary event isn’t just about looking back on 10 amazing years of ukulele playing, but also about giving forward to the next generation of Doncaster musicians. ❤️

Thank you to everyone who has bought tickets and supported us so far – you’re not only helping us celebrate, you’re directly helping young people discover the joy of making music.

🎟️ Final tickets available via CAST if you want to join us:

www.castindoncaster.com Doncaster Ukulele Group formed in 2015 with the aim of providing a space for local ukulele players to get together for a strum and sing.

⏰ 4 sleeps to go! ⏰

After 8 months in the planning, it’s almost time for our big 10th Anniversary Concert at CAST Theatre, Doncaster.

Limited tickets are still available via the venue’s box office and website: https://www.castindoncaster.com/whats-on/doncaster-ukulele-group-10th-anniversary-concert/

We had our final rehearsals this week including a practice with the Quirky Choir and Swag Choir too for something special!

Here’s some details about all of the special guest performers joining us at CAST on Wednesday:

Quirky Choir - https://thepoint.org.uk/quirky-choir/

Swag & Swaglet Choirs - https://thepoint.org.uk/swag-choir-and-swaglets/

Doncaster Schools Vermuyden Concert Band - https://www.doncaster.gov.uk/services/schools/william-appleby-music-centre

It gives us great pleasure to welcome our 3 special guest performers along on the night and we think you’ll love them all!

See you there!

Cast Doncaster , Doncaster Music Service , The Point, home of darts - Doncaster Community Arts , Darts Doncaster

It’s a bit too early for the 12 Days of Christmas yet, but today marks just 12 days until the biggest show in the history of our group!

Wednesday 24th September at CAST Theatre.

We’ve been blown away by ticket sales and can’t wait to welcome so many of our friends, family, sponsors and supporters to the event!

You can still get your tickets if you’re quick! Available now via CAST’s website and box office for just £12. There’s a handful left downstairs in the stalls, and a couple of rows in the Circle but once they’re gone they’re gone!

Over the next few days we’ll share more information including details about our special guests performing with us on the night, and some information about the charity we donate all our proceeds to, as well as some hints about some of the songs we’ll be playing on the night too.

Exciting times!!

For now, here’s a picture of the outside of CAST. What a wonderful venue!