Guests at a silver wedding in Dundee have contributed to a donation of £1,000 to the charity set up in Michael Marra’s memory.
Martin and Ann Manzi asked guests at their special anniversary last month to donate cash to charity instead of buying them presents.
As a result, the couple raised around £1,750, which they decided to split between two charities close to their hearts.
Both keen Michael Marra fans, Martin, 56, and 55-year-old Ann decided to give £1,000 to Optimistic Sound, Michael’s favourite charity, which aims to bring the Sistema music programme to Dundee.
Martin said: “We had a party to celebrate the anniversary but we decided we didn’t want presents.
“Ann’s mum is suffering from dementia and she’s in Menzieshill House, so we’ll present the rest of the cash to them.
“My work, SGN, were brilliant. They said they would double what we raised at the night and so they’ve chipped in with £500 towards Optimistic Sound.”
Campaigners hoping to bring the Sistema Scotland Big Noise orchestra to Dundee revealed last year that they have managed to attract more than £300,000 in funding towards the project from “fantastic” pledges.
The El Sistema project began in Venezuela in 1975 and was first set up in Scotland as Sistema Big Noise in the Raploch area of Stirling.