Military Wives Choir hit is top of the charity pops

THE Military Wives Choir said they were still “pinching themselves” as they announced their Christmas number one single had raised more than half a million pounds for charity.

The song Wherever You Are, which used lines from the wives’ love letters to their husbands serving in Afghanistan, was the fastest-selling charity single since Elton John’s Candle In The Wind in 1997 (when it was sung at Princess Diana’s memorial service), the Official Charts Company confirmed.

As the group and their choral director Gareth Malone presented a cheque for £503,985 to the Royal British Legion and the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) Forces Help, Malone said it felt like a dream.

He added: “It’s astonishing that something we recorded in a few hours has taken off like this. When I first heard the song I thought there is something here that will appeal to lots of people but I had no idea it would take off like this.

“Nothing I have ever done comes close to this. It’s all a bit of a dream. I’m pinching myself.”