THE harmonious voices and smiling faces of the Watoto Children's Choir brightened Gloucester city centre this weekend.

The youngsters from Uganda performed in the Eastgate Mall on Saturday causing crowds of shoppers to stop and listen.

The choir, which is made up of orphaned children who have been rescued by the Christian organisation, also performed to a 600-strong crowd at The Crypt School in Podsmead on Saturday evening.

Minister Simon Jarvis, from Robinswood Church, who organised the choir's visit said it had been a fantastic weekend of events.

"The performances the children gave were just incredible," he said.

"The work that Watoto does is fantastic in that it rescues these orphans and helps them to focus on their talent of singing and travel all over the world to perform. They have been able to build schools and hospitals in Uganda."

Mr Jarvis said they had raised more than £3,000 in collections from the performances as well as dozens of people signing up to sponsor a child.

"We are so pleased to have asked the choir to come to Gloucester. On Sunday we had a party at the church with over 500 people there and the children got to join in and to sample food from all over the world which people had brought in."