Connect Community Groups

** We are now on our 2025 Summer Break and look forward to singing together again on Tuesday 9th September 10 am – 11.30 am at The Well Community Centre, 92 St Albans Road, St Annes-on-Sea, FY8 1UZ (next to the YMCA).

Please come and join us – new members are always very welcome – you don’t need to bring anything, just come along – a warm welcome awaits! **

Singing by the Sea Partnership

Over the last year, Connect Community Choir and the innovative and creative state primary school – Mayfield Primary School – have developed a unique intergenerational partnership offering free and joyful art and music sessions to connect the generations in St Annes, reduce loneliness, increase confidence and build resilience through the power of music and creative health. 

Members and pupils have sung, quizzed, laughed and created artwork and memories together, sharing and filming life stories, hopes and aspirations, culminating in an amazing, uplifting theatre performance of songs, friendship and laughter in Singing by the Sea, a truly memorable experience for everyone: ’Wow! That was incredibly moving, I’ll never, ever forget this experience!’ (84 year old Connect member) and ‘I won’t forget it. I think it’s in my memory forever’, (10 year old Mayfield pupil).

The Singing By The Sea partnership provided brilliant artistic opportunities for people of all ages to express themselves creatively in a safe, supportive and empowering environment. The initiative:                    

• Enhanced the mental wellbeing of all participants through the power of creativity and self-expression, reducing anxiety and improving health through a range of relaxation and mindfulness techniques and exercises at the start of sessions.
• Gave young people valuable insights and empathy from engaging with older individuals and older participants a ‘new, motivational sense of belonging and fun’.
• Upskilled participants in singing and creative arts, building confidence and self-esteem and providing opportunities for members to share their work with each other and their families and community in performance.                

The partnership is based on shared values, aims and beliefs in co-production and began with the huge task of raising funds with people with very little social capital for something that had never been done before! But we did this together through Spacehive (Community crowdfunding platform), with validating financial support from Fylde and Lancashire County Councils; our local theatre, Lowther Pavilion who donated the theatre and staff – a huge vote of confidence in our idea and our ability to achieve an audience-worthy show – donations from local businesses and Fylde Soroptimists; and school and choir members and families; together raising over £15,000  – a fantastic achievement!

The Connect and Mayfield Partnership

In the words of Directors Phill and Jayne: ‘Connect brings people of all abilities and health conditions together to share the joy of being creative through music, art and singing together. We’re based in the most economically deprived area of St Annes with some members living in Blackpool, the most deprived area in the UK, and specialise in breaking down barriers to inclusion, increasing wellbeing and confidence and decreasing isolation and loneliness by connecting people in uplifting and innovative ways in safe, supportive spaces, free from judgement or prejudice, where every voice is heard and truly valued. 

Over 80% of our 60 members are 70+ and over 50% live with chronic mental and/or physical health conditions, and live alone. We try to meet each person’s individual needs. For an example of Connect’s work, please watch our video of the dementia friendly Summer Singalong or Love Is All Around events on You Tube.

Connect makes a big difference to people’s health: new friendships have flourished and confidence and self-esteem have drastically increased. As member Anne states: “I don’t know where I’d be without the choir, it should be prescribed on the NHS as it’s kept me sane; I love it so much; it really has changed my life”.  Connect’s work is also valued by the wider community – Phill and Jayne were recently appointed Lancashire Singing Champions for ‘bringing people together through music, fostering health, wellbeing and community spirit’

Mayfield Primary School  

In the words of Glyn Denton, Headteacher: ‘Mayfield is not typical of schools in the area. Serving a locality of high deprivation on the edge of Blackpool, we currently have 41% Free School Meals and have more than double the national average of children with EHC Plans and Special Educational Needs. The importance of speaking, listening and performance have become central skills in our curriculum offer to meet the starting point needs of our children and families. 

I would define our school as taking a learner eye to every aspect rather than a traditional teacher/adult eye. I like to see everything from our children’s perspective rather than assuming anything. Mayfield is a school that can take advice, possess humility, be strong and have conviction when we believe we are making decisions for the right reasons, yet also know that we are human and will constantly learn, as we all should, as we move everyday through life. We will never be afraid to try new ideas and initiatives or make changes that we believe will improve the social and academic experience for our children. I expect us to be bold and dare to do. We have a ‘Fear Less’ approach. I love to seek new ways of working that can constantly improve us. I expect the best from everyone at Mayfield – a positive, determined attitude to school life is a necessity for everyone who walks through our door above all else. Bring the smile, drive and excitement. 

‘Valuing Every Achievement’ is a constant thread. A vision that is everywhere in our school. Our ‘I Dream of Being…’ curriculum carries and embodies this as we aim to send our children onto the next stage in their lives socially and academically ready, in equal measure, to make a difference to our local community and beyond.

Coming Together with our Sponsors and Supporters

Connect ‘listens to and values every voice’ and Mayfield ‘values every child and every achievement’ and together we created a partnership, project and performance where every voice and every participant, whether performing, volunteering or supporting a child with learning differences or choir member living with dementia, was valued.

Our Unique Collaboration

Connect and Mayfield shared weekly rehearsals, creative games, and reflective discussions about friendship, mental health, wellbeing, isolation, and aspirations for the future.

For inclusivity and efficiency, workshops were held at the school, fostering meaningful discussion and friendships between the generations. Together, we explored a selection of songs that helped frame these important conversations, including “Forever Young” embracing vitality at any age, “Fall on Me” expressing mutual care and support and “Don’t Give Up on Me”championing resilience and loyalty through challenges.

Everyone created artwork inspired by the themes of the songs — drawings, writing, and memory-sharing pieces that became part of the final performance visuals and to celebrate the relationships formed during the project – and we created nine digital video interviews sharing everyone’s stories, reflections, and laughter. These videos became the narrative thread that ran through the final show, offering the audience insight into the powerful bonds built through song.

Our grand finale took place at the Lowther Pavilion, where both choirs performed together in front of a packed, supportive audience. It was a beautiful evening full of heart and harmony. 

A Lasting Legacy

Watching young people support older members with care and kindness, and vice versa — and seeing everyone cheer on their new friends, giving them confidence to join in — has been deeply moving. It’s a reminder of what we can build when we create spaces for people to meet, listen, and grow together.

We’re so proud of what Singing by the Sea has achieved — here we’ve highlighted just a few of the impacts but more can be viewed on the Spacehive Impact Report.

Local Economy Impacts                                                                                                                            Community Engagement and Footfall: our inter-generational event brought over 300 people together, and members visited local cafés and shops before or after sessions and performances, boosting nearby businesses.

Volunteering and Educational Impact

High-Quality Music Education: the project delivered inclusive, accessible music education to adults and children who learned side-by-side, developing musical skills, confidence and creativity in a nurturing, non-judgmental environment.

Volunteering Pathways: as part of our growth, we actively built a network of volunteers to support the partnership, giving participants a meaningful way to contribute and belong and we’re now developing formal job descriptions for key volunteer positions. 

Arts, culture and Heritage                                                                                                                      Singing By The Sea has had a meaningful and lasting impact on the cultural life of our area. We brought together musicians, creative facilitators, videographer and photographer to co-create a powerful intergenerational performance. It’s shown the strength of local cultural collaboration and helped demonstrate the positive role the arts play in wellbeing, connection, and place-making. 

Specific Impact on Participants

The workshops and performance improved everyone’s confidence and self-esteem and people felt valued and listened to in safe and supportive spaces. Feedback from Connect members at this time, includes ‘It’s just wonderful being part of this where age is something to celebrate – young and old and we keep learning from each other – I can’t tell you how special that is’; ‘it means so much: I look forward to the next session from the minute the last one ends; it helps me get out of bed. I’m valued and part of things again’.

Feedback from the children included:

• ‘It felt good and feeling good is important.’
•  ‘I mainly like football and this was the first show I’d done, I think I sung ok. My mum was amazed by me.’
•  ‘Working with different ages was really new but what a brilliant idea.’
•  ‘I liked that it wasn’t just lots of schools. We worked with a group that was special to us.’
• ‘I kept thinking about how the choir members were feeling whilst we were singing. It was great wasn’t it?’  
•  ‘Songs are great for things like this. Songs don’t have an age.’
• ‘This is what we’re meant to do at school. I will remember what we did.’
• ‘I think it shows that you can do anything at any time of life if you work hard for it.’

We hope we’ve managed to communicate how inspirational, moving and joyful the partnership and project have been and would like to leave the last word to partner and headteacher Glyn Denton who wrote the following to Connect the day after the performance: 

“That was brilliant last night. Honestly, I thought it was amazing, the first time I’ve been part of an evening quite like that and I have been part of many, many school related/community performances and events over the last 25 years.  I’m also not a man for hyperbole so please accept my words on face value . . . that was the vision you saw in your minds when you first approached me with the idea and the start of our partnership and I would say we hit that vision and delivered. Lots of great feedback about the power of the event and its wider impact at school.  So often my school was perceived as the ugly duckling in the area before we arrived in 2019. Last night we were the lucky chosen one in a superb evening. It’s amazing what can be achieved with belief and desire to come together and be prepared to stand for all the good things we aim to be. This is only the end of the beginning. There is so much we can do in the years ahead and the drive behind this work must be a lasting catalyst that spurs us on. Catch your breath. Have a break but also have a think about the future. Together we’ve created a moment that can live for so much longer.”

Glyn, we couldn’t agree more!

Connect Community Choir joins Lancashire County of Song

Connect Choir events