A GROUP of traditional performers from Kenya are to stage an free event at a church to raise funds for their families and improve their village.

The Osiligi Maasai Warrior Troupe will perform their tribal songs and dances and reveal details about their culture at an event at St Mary's Church, Thirsk, on Saturday, November 1, at 2.30pm.

The narrated performance, which includes audience participation, will tell the story of their lives.

The troupe was founded in 2007 to benefit the community in Kisamis, 30 miles south-west of Nairobi, and it has previously performed at Ely, Salisbury and Exeter cathedrals and before royalty on three occasions.

A UK-based charity has also been launched to support the troupe's work.

A spokesman for the church said the troupe had helped move its community from abject poverty.

He said: "Water came from a stagnant pond some five miles away and now they have fresh clean water in two points in the community.

"The troupe’s success and the charity’s work have seen unhealthy kerosene to light their homes replaced by solar lighting, the building of a church and, most wonderfully, a school which now has 130 pupils, all sponsored by UK supporters."

There will be a collection after the show.