Mikhail Gorbachev is coming (From Witney Gazette)

Mikhail Gorbachev is coming

8:51am Friday 24th November 2006 in Witney

THE ex-Soviet leader who oversaw the Cold War's end is to visit Oxfordshire and talk about the British leader who watched it begin.

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last president of the former Soviet Union, is to give a lecture on Winston Churchill, when he visits Blenheim Palace next year.

Mr Gorbachev will be making a tribute as part of the 41st Churchill Memorial Concert on April 28.

Tickets for the fundraising concert range from £510 for dinner with Mr Gorbachev and the Duke of Marlborough, to £60 for a champagne reception and restricted view seat.

The annual event is organised to raise money for charities, and former recipients have included Ormerod Special School, in Oxford and Woodstock, and the Blue Cross animal centre, in Burford.

For more information or to nominate a charity to receive funds from the event, visit www. churchillmemorialconcerts. org, or call Henrietta Spencer-Churchill, on 0207 731 8399.