Through a chance meeting with York fundraiser Penelope Worsley, Thai floral artist, dancer and musician Opas Yarcammee has agreed to give a demonstration in York at short notice.

Yarcammee has been brought to England by the Thai Embassy to decorate the windows of Harrods and create exotic arrangements in the Food Halls this week, and he has agreed to stay on in England for a performance next Friday (21st) at Temple Hall, York St John College.

Proceeds from the 7.30pm demonstration will go to the Karen Hilltribes Trust, and a delighted Penelope says: "This evening is very exciting and a great honour for us. For such an expert in Thai culture to come to York to give a performance for this charity is wonderful. I have watched him dance with candles and mimicking puppets, and it is just magical. I hope many people will take this opportunity to come to what promises to be a very unusual fundraising event that will be well worth seeing."

Yarcammee, a lecturer in Applied Arts at Chiang Mai University, has had the honour of dancing for the King and Queen of Thailand in Chiang Mai and has decorated the royal palaces on many occasions.

Penelope, who started the Karen Hilltribes Trust in 1999 in memory of her son Richard, will give a short illustrated talk on her work with the hill tribes in north west Thailand. She visits Thailand three times a year to see the Karen people and visit the charity projects, which include installing clean water systems and supporting educational programmes. For more information, see

www.karenhilltribes.org.uk

Tickets are available at £10 by email to penelope@karenhilltribes.org.uk; telephone, 01904 415124; or post, addressed to KHT, Midgley House, Heslington, York YO10 5DX.

Updated: 16:21 Thursday, May 20, 2004