A MUSICAL enthusiast from Barrow received an early Christmas present when she was surprised with the Evening Mail's Bouquet of the Week.

Katherine Parkinson, 32, runs KS Musicals, a theatre group for children aged three to 18, and was presented with the special flowers on December 13 when the group celebrated their festive party at Barrow Cricket Club.

Mrs Parkinson manages her role at KS Musicals, which has around 80 children attending every workshop, alongside her job as a teacher at Chetwynde School in Barrow.

The bouquet comes after a hugely successful Christmas show at Chetwynde when the young performers at KS Musicals stunned the audience with their talent and enthusiasm in two sold-out shows.

The show was in aid of St Mary's Hospice and raised £450 for the charity.

Speaking about the surprise at the party this month, Mrs Parkinson said: "I was really surprised. I was just setting up and one of the helpers called me and I didn't know what was going in and then the girls walked in with the flowers. It was lovely."

Mrs Parkinson founded the group back in 2011 and KS Musicals hold weekly sessions on Tuesdays focusing on the disciplines of voice, drama and dance as well as improvisation, technique, breathing and harmonies.

Mrs Parkinson has gone on maternity leave as she is due a baby in January but KS Musicals is never far from her mind and she is already excited for the group's summer show.

She said: "We started in 2011 and there was just 12 children that year. Gradually it's grown over the past five years.

"When it started there wasn't anything that specialised in singing and singing is my passion.

"There's different performing arts groups but singing is the basis of what we do."

Mrs Parkinson was nominated for the Bouquet of the Week accolade by her friend Jo Brown on behalf of the group's members.

She said: "Kath is an inspiration to all the children, she encourages every one one of the children to grow in confidence and simply to enjoy performing and taking part."

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