CHOIR boy carer Archie Machin helped make Sunday a day to remember for St John's Church, Devizes on Sunday as TV cameras from Songs of Praise filmed a special service.

Archie, 11, who is a pupil of Southbroom St James Academy, Devizes, is carer for his mum Su who suffers from Fibromyalgia which causes

chronic pain and can makes her legs buckle without warning.

The BBC team spent time filming Archie and Mrs Machin at home and then in church as part of a special edition of the programme to mark Carers Week on June 11.

It was a fitting moment for the cameras to be in church as the choir was marking 70 years since becoming a member of the Royal School of Church Music.

Past members joined current singers for a ceremony of music which included an organ solo from chorister Anna Hallett, 12. New Devizes Mayor Nigel Carter presented 11 young choir members with Diocesan Choral Awards.

Director of music at St John's Chris Totney said: "This really was quite a bizarre set of coincidences. The rector Paul Richardson and churchwardens were having a spring clean in early April when they discovered a certificate dated May 1947 which had been gathering dust at the bottom of a drawer for many years.

"Knowing that such a significant anniversary was approaching, plans were hastily put in place to mark the special occasion. The exams which 11 of our choristers recently passed are validated by the RSCM, so we took the opportunity to present them with their certificates as part of the ceremony, and then we found out that Songs of Praise were coming to do a feature on Archie and his mother, so they really couldn’t have picked a better weekend to pay us a visit if they’d tried."

Archie and his mum are supported by the Christian charity Spurgeons. Chief executive Ross Hendry said: “We are delighted that Songs of Praise is helping to raise awareness of young carers like Archie, who carry the responsibility of caring for members of their family."

Mrs Machin, who suffered a broken ankle earlier this year which kept her housebound for weeks, said: "Archie is incredible. He does an awful lot to help including, cooking, washing, shopping and generally helping me.

"It is a lot for an 11-year-old to cope with but he has been doing it since he was seven. Being in the choir is very good for him and its members are very supportive."

To find out more about the work of Spurgeons go to https://www.spurgeons.org/what-we-do/young-carers