A Hampshire samba band hosted a worldwide online performance to raise hundreds of pounds for a mental health charity.

Swanmore-based band Swan Samba and Solent Minds hosted the first Drum 4 World Mental Health Day, on October 10.

Swan Samba was established in 2019 by Gary Munday and it has grown into an official Samba band with hundreds of members. Most have no musical experience and join for either the physical or mental health benefits.

Members of the band inspired Drum 4 World Mental Health Day, Mr Munday said: "We have done some fundraising in the past but we wanted to tie it back to what the band started for.”

MOST READ: Hampshire crown court clerk receives national award for outstanding work

The Hampshire band was joined by other groups from Cheshire, Warrington, New Zealand and Canada for the charity performance. 

In a video uploaded to YouTube, all the bands involved performed an original song by Mr Munday.

The Drum 4 World Mental Health Day Hampshire performance took place at the Solent Mind Wellbeing Centre on Parchment Street in Winchester. 

Mr Munday said: "We weren’t too sure if we had enough room for the whole band and audience so had to keep it to a minimum."

He added: “I would love to do this again however the making of the song with video resources was quite labour intensive, but it was really fun to see everyone performing.”

“Solent Mind are eager to get behind it again and with a bigger leadup and performance.”

Swan Samba raised £280, while the Batida Rio in Warrington raised £782 due to having a flash mob and workshops alongside the main performance.

A final amount of funds raised for Solent Mind will be announced soon by Swan Samba.