WELL, it's that time of year again and WODYS' cabaret is on the road entertaining various groups throughout the county.

The cabaret is made up of 17 youngsters, aged 13 and above who belong to Worcester Operatic and Dramatic Society's youth section. They give up several evenings - and a few lunch times - to sing and dance for the residents of residential and nursing homes, hospices and for Women's Institutes and other such organisations between now and the spring.

It is always a privilege for me to accompany the group as they go around these venues. The commitment from the children is total and the way they cope with performing in differing circumstances is wonderful. One day they can be on a stage, the next in a space no larger than a front room. There are also birthdays and anniversaries to celebrate in style.

We always have great fun, never knowing quite what to expect at each venue, such as the time one elderly resident's teeth tumbled into her lap as she was enthusiastically joining in the singing. Amazingly our young soloist carried on with her number as if nothing untoward had happened. Then there was the evening that an elderly woman decided to sing-a-long with the youngsters and was so loud that the two people sitting behind her started prodding her with their walking sticks. When she didn't stop singing - totally out of tune - they started hitting her on the head. The cabaret carried on, tears of laughter running down several faces including mine, until carers at the residential home moved the offending singer.

This year the cabaret - Happy Days - has been directed by James Griffiths, a former WODY, stalwart of many of the annual shows at the Swan Theatre and a member of the cabaret group himself for some time. Now in his second year studying for a Btec in Performing Arts at Worcester College of Technology, James has produced a fast-moving and very entertaining show with songs such as Hey Big Spender, Time Warp, Flash, Bang Wallop! and Where is Love? This year, for the first time the cabaret has a new keyboard player, Lucas Ball, not unknown to readers of the Worcester News as a classical concert reviewer.

WODYS' cabarets started in a small way many years ago and have grown in popularity. This time we have had far more requests than we are able to accept and the unlucky ones have had to go on the top of a waiting list for next year, or the date has been filled by the senior cabaret run by parent group WODS.

Cabaret serves as a two-fold experience. Firstly, it gives the youngsters a chance to perform in differing circumstances, helping them to grow in confidence and ability. Secondly it brings a spark to the lives of many an elderly person, who sometimes find their lives very mundane. Which reminds me of the time we went to one residential home where there was a blind man who, although he could not see the children perform, could "hear their smiling faces". He told me that ours was the first visit he had had since his wife died two months earlier.