On 10th December at 7.30pm, Sing! Community Choir will be marking the choir’s 10th anniversary with a Christmas concert that’s set to raise the roof of St Andrew’s Street Baptist Church in the heart of Cambridge – as well as raising funds for Cambridge Acorn Project, which supports families across Cambridgeshire.
The concert will include some favourite festive tunes as well as a joyful selection of pop and gospel numbers – from Queen to Bonnie Tyler and beyond! And as if that wasn’t enticement enough, there will also be homemade cake to help get the audience into the Christmas spirit.
The concert is named Put a Little Love in Your Heart, after one of the evening’s offerings. Like so many other aspects of the choir, the concert’s title was discussed and decided as a team effort by the choir leaders and members.
“Our choir is very much a group effort – there is no one leader,” says Bethany Kirby (pictured in yellow above), who co-founded Sing! Community Choir 10 years ago along with three other friends she had met in a university choir.
“Anyone who would like to get involved with leading warm-ups, teaching and conducting, or any other aspects of the choir, is very much encouraged to do so,” she added. “We hope to create an environment where everyone feels included and can play as big or small a part as they like.”
Ten years on, the choir is still going strong and today has more than 100 members, who rehearse on Thursday evenings at Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge. Inspired in part by her experience with Sing!, Bethany has since gone on to qualify as a music therapist.
“I love arranging songs for the choir, teaching and conducting,” said Bethany. “I always get a buzz when a song comes together, and I can see the delight on everyone’s faces!”
Over the past 10 years, Sing! Community Choir has raised more than £10,000 for local and international charities. This Christmas, choir members voted to raise funds for the local charity Cambridge Acorn Project, which supports families across the county.
A spokesperson from Cambridge Acorn Project said: “We are delighted that Sing! Community Choir has decided to support Cambridge Acorn Project and every penny raised will go directly to supporting children, young people and families who have experienced trauma and who are living in poverty in Cambridgeshire.”
Find out more about Sing! Community Choir at https://singcommunitychoir.co.uk/
