Our Patrons
We are proud that the individuals below have agreed to be Patrons of the Dalesmen Male Voice Choir
HM Lord-Lieutenant of Derbyshire Elizabeth Fothergill
Appointed to the role in 2020, Elizabeth previously served as  the High Sheriff of Derbyshire between 2016/17
 
A lifelong lover of books and an advocate for the joy and benefit that reading can bring to our lives, Liz is committed to raising the profile of the cultural offering in the City of Derby. She is Chair of Derby Book Festival, now planning for its 8th year in 2023, and Chair of Derby Museums and Art Gallery and a  previous trustee of Quad Derby.
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She was awarded a CBE in 2014 for Services to the Healthcare Products Industry and was made a Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Derbyshire in 2015.
Kay Croot, Farmer and businesswoman of Duffield
Croots Farm Shop are delighted to be Patrons of the Dalesmen Male Voice Choir and to support them in their fundraising.  Croots are a family run farm shop and café based in the Ecclesbourne Valley in Duffield serving locally sourced and homemade fresh foods. With many years of farming experience in the family, they are passionate about sourcing the best farm fresh foods, protecting the environment around them and of course supporting the local community. As well as supporting local charities, they've been keen to support the Dalesmen, which was a relationship started by the late Steve Croot around the supply of their homemade mince pies to the choirs Christmas concert and this tradition continues. The photo shows Kay and Dalesmen Chairman Terry Chell planting a tree in memory of Steve Croot, Kay's husband before his untimely death in 2021.
James Roberson, broadcaster.
James is now retired from journalism but it was his working life for 41 years. Beginning his journalistic career at the Sheffield Star newspaper in 1979, he moved to broadcast journalism at Radio Hallam, Sheffield's commercial radio station. In 1985 he moved to BBC TV, working on Look North, based in Leeds. A move within the BBC in 1987 found James in Birmingham as a presenter on BBC Midlands Today. In 1990 James transferred to a new BBC channel, East Midlands Today, which launched in January 1991. This turned out to be James' long-term BBC home as a TV reporter and he stayed with the programme until his retirement in 2020. James has been a loyal long-term supporter of the Dalesmen MVC and has often compered our performances.
Chris Dean, leader of the Syd Lawrence Orchestra​
Chris Dean's long association began through his father, the Rev Reg Dean, who lived to the great age of 110 years and being at that time Britain's oldest man. The Rev Dean, who lived in Wirksworth, Derbyshire was instrumental in the founding of the Dalesmen MVC in Wirksworth in the 1980s and was honoured as Lifetime President of the Choir. He died in 2013. His father's connections with the Dalesmen has mean't that Chris follows our progress and joins us in concert on occasions, which makes those events very special. We are immensely grateful to Chris and his band for giving us their time and talent for the benefit of the choir, our audiences and the local charities which we support.