“A big thank you to Phill and Jayne – a great pleasure to experience their expertise; I meet people at the centre whom I wouldn’t routinely meet and it’s a joyful and a non-judgemental environment.”
Christmas Carols at the Harbour
One of our favourite events throughout the year is our Christmas Caroling visit to The Harbour, a mental health hospital in Lancashire. We come together and sing with/and for patients who’ll be staying onsite over the festive season. It’s such a joy to be joined by the NHS staff for this shared experience.
Summer Singing at Lowther
Getting out and about and connecting across the wider community is very important to us, so we were excited to have the opportunity to perform in The Tent at Lowther Pavilion over the summer. This was the first opportunity for our three choirs to perform together to share their songs and support each other in an afternoon of music in the sunshine. From Easter, the choirs had been learning their pieces to share, and through these rehearsals we upskilled our musicianship to sing confidently together and collectively produced a sound the members should be proud of. The afternoon was full of smiles, support and singing that boosted wellbeing, and gave carers and members, whatever their personal situation, the chance to catch up with friends, be creative and sing out. Each voice in the choir is valued and listened to. Thanks also to BBC Radio Lancs for coming down and giving us the opportunity to share our music and what we do throughout Lancashire.
Connect with us on Zoom
Staying creatively connected is the core of how we deliver our work, but we didn’t let covid stop us. Throughout the isolated periods of lock down, from the very first week, we met every week without fail on Zoom to sing together and check in on one another. If you can’t make it to our Tuesday morning choir 10 am – 11.30 am, email us on connectcommunityuk@gmail.com for the zoom code.
“I can’t tell you how much we appreciate everything Jayne and Phill do for us and do to keep the choir going through everything, even a pandemic! We support and lift the spirits of each other – I don’t know where I’d be without the choir, it should be prescribed on the NHS as it’s kept me sane and I don’t mean that as a joke, it really has. I love it so much; it really has changed my life.”
A, member of Connect Community Choir
A Cross Generational Christmas
After several separate rehearsals with Connect Community Choir and St John’s Primary school in Blackpool, our musical director Phill Fairhurst brought the two groups together for an afternoon of cross generational Christmas activities. The group had prompted questions and shared past chirstmas stories before adonign thier chirtmas hats for an emotional sing along. A huge thank you to the children from St John’s for the positivity and joy they brought to the event.
Tramshed signed Sing-A-Long
Access and Inclusivity are two of the important foundations that shape Connect Community Groups, and it’s always a pleasure to work with the Tramshed Theatre Company who create outstanding theatre which inspires and celebrates everyone. Last December their group of young creative singers came and shared their signing with our singers from Wesley’s Cafe Choir and Connect Community Choir
Connect Community Groups 