Singer's London Welsh School show

Cerys Matthews will provide the pre-dinner entertainment

Singer Cerys Matthews is set to perform at a charity ball to raise funds for her children's school - the only Welsh medium school outside Wales.

London Welsh School, which educates primary age children bilingually, cannot get funding from the assembly government because it is not in Wales.

The UK government only funds state schools which follow the national curriculum.

But the north west London-based school follows the Welsh curriculum.

Set up in 1958, London Welsh School in Brent has 21 full-time pupils and 10 who attend only on Fridays.

It also has a nursery attended by 16 children.

It receives some funding from the Welsh Language Board but otherwise supports itself through donations and endowments.

The fundraising Dragon Ball, being held at Porchester Hall, in Bayswater, on Saturday will also celebrate the school's 50th anniversary.

My own daughter has benefited greatly from her education at the school Eleri Cosslett, parent

Matthews, the former lead singer of Catatonia, will provide the pre-dinner entertainment.

With hits like Road Rage and Mulder and Scully, she was a chart regular before going solo after the band split in 2001. She returned to the limelight in 2007 in ITV's I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here, which led to a much-publicised romance with former EastEnders actor Marc Bannerman.

Her two children attend the school.

Funds raised by the ball will also go to charities including Marie Curie Cancer Care and the Down Syndrome Educational Trust.

Parent Eleri Cosslett, a businesswoman from Cardiff who lives and works in London, said the school gave Welsh parents living in the capital the chance to have their children educated bilingually to the age of 11.

"In this politically correct age, it seems ironic that the London Welsh School receives no funding from Government and still has to rely on supporters and benefactors to ensure the children of Welsh families living in the capital can keep a connection with their culture, one that is alive and thriving," said Ms Cosslett.

"My own daughter has benefited greatly from her education at the school, which is a testament to those over the years who have fought to establish and maintain it."

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