A View from the Back
Musings from the choir's resident roadie, register-taker, sound engineer and long-suffering husband of the director.
What Community Really Looks Like
A VIEW FROM THE BACK
Kev Smith
6/7/20263 min read
I came up with a little phrase when Becky started Raise Your Voice Hebburn. I said that we needed to emphasise the “community” in “community choir”. What I meant by that was that it was important to engage with the local community. We decided we’d make regular care home performances a key part of what we did, as well as performing at other local community and charity events such as the Springwell Village 1940s event and the Relay for Life. We contacted local groups and organisations to see how we could work together, which resulted in our performance at Hebburn Town FC, and we’ve created partnerships with local radio stations that have resulted in numerous live appearances. It’s fair to say that we’ve become a real contributor to our community.
The thing I’ve loved most about this whole adventure, though, is just how much the choir has become a community of its own. Whether you’ve been a member since the Choirmaster days or you were attracted by Raise Your Voice Hebburn’s positive social media posts, the choir is a welcoming place offering friendship and support. It’s the family you didn’t know you had.
In the past week I’ve seen plenty of evidence of this. We were recently approached by Alison, one of our newer members, to ask if we might be able to record a special message for her grandmother who is about to reach the grand age of 104, and is a huge music fan. During rehearsals on Tuesday, the choir got together to record “We’ll Meet Again” and a special birthday message for ‘Supergran’, and we can’t wait for her to hear it later this month.
Then on Saturday, more than half of our members piled onto a bus for a road trip to Wheatfield Court care home in Westerhope. We’ve done care home performances before, of course, but this one was extra special. Westerhope’s a little off our usual patch, but it’s home to long-time member David’s mum. He’d asked if we’d be able to make a visit for his mum’s 90th birthday, and we were more than happy to oblige. It was genuinely heart-warming to see how many members were willing to give up their time on a weekend in order to support one of our own, and even more heart-warming that our coach travel was donated free of charge by Just Group.
The care homes are always a real highlight for us. It’s an honour and a privilege to be invited into someone’s home, and it really is a special feeling knowing you’ve brought a little joy into people’s lives. For some of our members this was their first care home performance, and they really got into the spirit of it. Stopping to chat with the residents afterwards, it’s always clear just how much they appreciate our visits.
When the coach got back to Hebburn many of the choir stayed together for a quick one at the local, which if social media posts are any guide quickly descended into a night of debauchery the likes of which south Tyneside has rarely seen. With so many of our members still in their choir t-shirts, they were bound to make an impression. And so it’s proved, with Becky fielding messages from people who’d seen how much fun everyone was having and asking how they could join too. We’ve even had a few from men. Actual men!! There can be no finer advertisement for us than all our members, out together and having a ball. It’s infectious. People see it and want to be a part of it. It's just like the TV show 'Friends', only there are eighty of us so we'd need a much bigger sofa. And not one of us is an awful human being like Ross. We'll be there for you. And all are welcome. We’re getting close to capacity, though, so places are limited.