A world-renowned African choir which has performed in front of the world's most powerful heads of state held a sell-out concert last night. 

Choir 41 of the African Children's Choir started their UK tour in Woodford Green thanks to the Longstaff family who live in The Green and have had ties with the charity for over 20 years.

The concert was made of 18 disadvantaged children from war-torn Uganda aged between 9 and 11 years old, and pupils from Wells Primary School in Barclay Oval, Woodford Green. 

They performed to a packed crowd of over 400 people inside All Saints Church in Inmans Row, with many watching the live action from screens set up in the Church's atrium-style cafe next door. 

Mr Longstaff said: "It was a totally packed church. Children were tremendous in their dancing and everyone was absolutely thrilled with the performance.

"This is a wonderful life experience for the choir children of Africa especially as they have only been learning English for 15 months." 

Before arriving in Redbridge where each child spent three nights with a host family, the ten girls and eight boys had spent eleven months touring the USA and Canada.  

The UK tour which is being led by 22-year-old Nathanael Longstaff, will see the children travel to Bristol, Dumfries, Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff before their final performance in Gravesend in January. 

Each member has been sponsored by charity Music for Life because they are either an orphan, has only one parent or because their parents are too poor to pay for an education. 

Music for Life has educated over 52,000 children and since the inception of African Children's Choir 30 years ago, singers have performed for Her Majesty the Queen, Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela among many other celebrities and dignitaries. 

They last performed in the area at Walthamstow Assembly Hall in the mid 1990s.