Mary

I had sung in a choir a long time ago when I was at school (we came first at the National Eisteddfod!)  and always enjoyed it, although I could not read music.   Once I had left school I forgot about singing and, anyway choirs wanted you to read music.  When I retired an ex-colleague of my husband’s told me about Celia’s class and that anyone could join.   I joined at the same time as two others and was made to feel welcome straight away and never looked back. What do I enjoy about it?  The singing most of all – learning new songs and reviving old ones.  The way in which Celia teaches the songs by singing all the parts so that I can (eventually) get it right.  The way in which you can switch between parts so that if you are squeaking on a top note you can drop down a bit. The fact that it is not competitive and it really does not matter if you sing a few wrong notes or have no sense of rhythm.  Celia makes it fun, so that when you leave at 12 you nearly always feel brighter than when you arrived, usually humming something you have been learning. I also enjoy meeting the same and new people each week and, at the Coffee Break (a vital component)  finding out what they have been up to. There have been other benefits -through a friend at singing I have linked up with a group of women I was at school with in the 1950s  and now go out to tea every two months!  The group is also really accessible and welcomes people with mobility and other problems, including my friend’s son who has a severe learning disability. I also like the fact that there is no homework and that you can opt in or out depending on what is happening in the rest of your life.  And when you come back you just pick up from where you left off. Fantastic!