A VOLUNTEER police officer is staging a night of popular music and jazz before heading to New York to put her strength to the test – all to raise cash for charity.

Samantha Wright, from Hadleigh, who is a musician by trade and also a volunteer sergeant with Essex Police, is hoping to raise money for the Joining Against Cancer in Kidz charity.

Tonight, the pianist is putting on a concert featuring the Citadel Songsters and the Bobby G Jazz Quintet at St Augustine’s Church, in St Augustine’s Avenue, Thorpe Bay.

It starts at 7pm and admission is free, although there will be a collection for the charity.

Then, next month she will be heading out to the USA to take part in a police fundraiser for the cause.

She will take part in the sixday event, which features a half marathon in Central Park in uniform, followed by a “plane pull” at JFK Airport – where UK officers take on their US counterparts in a contest to see who can pull the jet fastest across the tarmac.

She said: “I can’t wait to go and do it all for charity.

“I think there it is going to be quite competitive, but in a friendly way.”