Heartsongs
THE success of a women’s singing for wellbeing group started in Barnard Castle has seen it expand to Woodland.
The Heartsongs afternoon activity at The Hub, at Shaw Bank, was started in the spring last year and has been so well received that its founder, Tabby Michelin, initiated a new activity at Woodland Village Hall last month.
After only a handful of sessions the group has grown to 10 women meeting each Wednesday at 7.30pm.
Ms Michelin said: “We have a range of age from 40 to 90 singing together. Its selling point is that you don’t have to be a specialist musician – it is the connection rather than perfection.
“We don’t do concerts – it’s just singing for the joy of it. It is a welcoming space for women of any age really.”
Songs are sung unaccompanied, a cappella and range from origin folk to songs about nature and the seasons.
Ms Michelin said: “We sing uplifting, beautiful songs with simple harmonies, all taught by ear, so no written music or experience needed.
“It is affiliated to Singing Mamas, which is a new movement started by a midwife down in Sussex, specifically to support women with peri-natal depression and to try prevent isolation.
“I did some training with them and we have a link with them, but it is not actually a Singing Mama’s group, partly because I wanted to make it welcome to all age groups.
“For the Barnard Castle group we have cake and a chat afterwards and it is quite a nice community we have there.”
The Hub group meets every Friday at 10am. For more information visit bookwhen.com/heartsongs.
