AN EVENING of Nepalese dance and music will help raise funds for a statue commemorating the achievements of Maidstone’s Gurkhas.

After just one month, £5,000 has been raised towards the £15,000 cost of a bronze statue of a Gurkha soldier which will stand outside Maidstone Museum

And the total is set to be boosted by the Maidstone Nepalese Community who have pledged to raise £2,000 towards the £15,000 total.

Dinesh Khadka, spokesman for the Maidstone Nepalese Community, said: “We have decided to host an evening of traditional Nepalese dance, with music and song.

“We will invite councillors and all are welcome - not just members of the community. It will take place in June, but we do not yet have a date.

“We have set ourselves a fund-raising target of £2,000 and hope the dance will be one way of raising that.”

If you want to donate to the fund, send cheques, made out to The Maidstone Trust Ltd, to FREEPOST RRXA-AZKU-CEKR, Maidstone Trust (GT), Maidstone, ME14 5SF