On Sunday 15th January, cellist Laura Van Den Heijden won the Lions SE District Music Competition held at the De la Warr Pavilion in Bexhill.

Members of Caterham Oxted & Godstone Lions Club (COGS) who sponsor Laura were there with her parents to see her receive a cheque for £150 along with hearty congratulations from Lions District Governor Frank Lees. Laura will now go on to the Multiple District stage of the competition which will be held in Birmingham. For Sunday's stage of the competition contestants had to play a compulsory piece which was Prelude from suite No4 in E Flat Major BWV 1010 for Cello Solo by J S Bach which was to be followed by a piece of the contestants choice from a list of 12. Laura chose Pezzo Capriccioso by Tchaikovsky.

Laura, now aged 14, was born in England and is the youngest daughter of a Dutch father and Swiss mother. They live in Sussex. Very early on it was clear that Laura had a strong relationship with music. She started to play the recorder when she was four this was soon followed by the piano and when she was six she began to learn the cello. Laura joined the junior department of the Royal College of Music when she was eight. At age 10 she passed her Grade 8 Associated Board of the Royal School of Music exams for piano and cello.

This very talented young lady has performed in public many times and participated in many competitions here in the UK as well as in Holland and Switzerland. In 2011 she was the winner of the Marjorie Humby competition at the Royal School of Music and has now reached the televised stage of the BBC's Young Musician competition which is to be broadcast in May leading to the final on 13th May. COGS will be glued to their TV screens!