J’AIME JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022

singing. We sing in parts so we have
music, but most people don’t read the
music; it’s all about getting people
laughing and singing and chatting. We
do have regulars who come along every
week without fail, but sometimes they just
can’t make it.”
Understandably, the pandemic had a
huge effect on Helen, who was teaching
singing and piano as well as doing the
choirs when everything ground to a
halt. The singing groups moved online
onto Zoom, which she describes as “an
absolute saving grace”. Around 70 people
each week attended this way, keeping the
choir connected and engaged while most
members were unable to go anywhere
or do anything. Helen still hosts Zoom sessions on a
Friday for those who are still reluctant or unable to
go out, as well as for others who have come back to
live rehearsals but enjoy the online interaction.
“Because I thought we might have lots of technical
hitches - I’d never even heard of Zoom before
lockdown and I knew lots of my members hadn’t - I
decided to open up half an hour before we started
singing,” says Helen. “In fact, the technical hitches
were sorted out pretty instantaneously, but we kept
that half hour. Now when I do live rehearsals we
open up early for some social interaction, because we
all need it now more than ever, I think.”
Indeed, Helen believes Everybody Sings might
have folded because of COVID - as many other
choirs did - without the transition to online practice.
Not only that, but singing together was even more
important in keeping everyone’s spirits up during the
lockdowns.
ZOOM KEPT THE CHOIR GOING
THROUGHOUT LOCKDOWN
THE EVERYBODY SINGS GROUP IN SUTTON COLDFIELD
“Even though they couldn’t hear everyone else
singing - just themselves singing individually -
keeping that choir community together really helped.
My members have been really happy to come back.
Over the four sessions, I have about 150 members,
which is amazing, so I’m thrilled to be back doing
it. I have a riot. I feel like I go out to play and other
people come out to play with me.”
You might be surprised by what Helen loves most
about being a choir mistress, as it’s not those perfect
two-part harmonies!
“I love getting people singing, but I love getting
people laughing,” she says. “If I can hear the room
erupt into laughter then it’s happy days for me,
because it’s such a tonic.”
Equally, for the choir members it can be the amazing
friendships that they form, the bonds that are built
by singing together, that are most rewarding. The
pandemic was a chance to form new friendships
when members of the various Everybody Sings
choirs met on Zoom. Helen explains
how they now sometimes come to other
rehearsals just to see each other.
“They would never have known each
other if not for the choir. It’s an amazing
thing to combat loneliness, which is a
major problem.”
Sing Me Sunshine is tremendously
important in this regard - not just for
people living with dementia and other
conditions - but for the people who look
after them, by helping them to deal with
the pressures and stresses of being a carer.
If you’re thinking, “this all sounds
marvellous, but I can’t sing!” Helen would
encourage anyone who is nervous or
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