Our Chaplain Sue Naughton has been working hard to organise a staff choir.....and she is pleased to announce that bookings are open! No singing experience is necessary, and we have a professonal music director to help the choir develop.

Sue, said "I am delighted we can finally put our plans in place to launch our choir, as we've been approached by a number of colleagues. 

"Kate Peters (pictured left with Sue) will be our musical director. She's a talented professional musician, a performance and recording artist and I think we'll be in for a real musical treat and a lot of fun! Check her out https://www.kate-peters.com

"The types of music we'll sing will be varied. No singing experience is necessary, though if you have experience of singing in a choir or play an instrument it will be helpful for Kate to know to help her plan our repetoire"

Here's the plan:

Start date: Wednesday 29th May

Time: 5.15pm-6.45 pm

Venue: The Hope Centre (Chapel), CRH

Cost £30 for six sessions: To book your place we have to ask for payment in advance to cover all 6 sessions  - this is non-refundable. This is because we have to pay Kate's fees in advance.

We're sorry - we are not able to waive fees for non-attendance.

Payment: Please pay by cheque or cash at the chaplaincy office at CRH or HRI.

Ongoing Plan: The choir will run in blocks of six sessions, followed by a break of 1-2 weeks (to be confirmed). Then a further six weeks, followed by a break and so on.

As this is a new venture, we will review progress after the first few weeks and again after the first block of six sessions and may (or may not) need to adapt things accordingly, so any feedback and comments will be appreciated.

The benefits of joining a choir - looking after each other as well as our patients

Evidence indicates there a number of health benefits from singing and taking part in a choir, including reducing stress, improving a feeling of mental and social well-being. The group activity of the choir also supports team building and networking between teams and  colleagues, helping build relationships. 

The choir and our other wellbeing activities (see Occupational Health pages), are part of The Cupboard, our new people strategy. Take a look at The Cupboard here.