Rabab Ghazoul leads the group

A multicultural women's choir is making preparations to sing at one of the largest festivals in the UK.

The Riverside Women's Singers in Cardiff are holding their first meeting on Thursday after a four week break and will begin practising for the Thames Festival in London.

The choir, who sing songs from all cultures including Eastern European and African without musical accompaniment, hope to take part in the Sing for Water event - a mass choir concert of up to 500 voices - to raise money for WaterAid.

Rabab Ghazoul, who has been running the sessions for the last two years, hopes that more singers will join the group.

"It is such fun for everyone who comes along," she said.

Riverside is such a multi-cultural place to live and the singing adds to the culture here Rabab Ghazoul, group leader

"It doesn't matter what you think of your voice, everyone sounds so beautiful.

"Riverside is such a multi-cultural place to live and the singing adds to the culture here.

"We have women from all walks of life coming, like students, mothers, working women, and it is very accessible and a great way to meet people."

Ms Ghazoul has been involved in teaching singing and voice techniques for a number of years.

"This is a great way of empowering women through voice in a safe environment.

"It is very informal and we have a cross section of women attending.

None of the members of our singing group are professional singers but they all sounded so beautiful Rabab Ghazoul, group leader

"I teach them songs from all over the world including South America, Eastern European, Mauri and Africa.

"The harmonies they sing are just so amazing to listen to," she said.

Last year the group took part in the annual Thames Festival for the first time.

"We joined in with a 300-strong community choir and it was absolutely amazing," said Ms Ghazoul.

"None of the members of our singing group are professional singers but they all sounded so beautiful.

"We are planning to do this year's festival as well and we are hoping that maybe we could set up a community choir to sing at local events as well.

"I'd love it if more women came along to join us," she added.

The group meetings are held at the South Riverside Community Centre, Brunel Street in Cardiff on Thursday's at 1900 BST.