Bailey’s and coffee!

The “Queen” presenting an award to Eldon Extra Care!

One of our very first venues was Eldon Extra Care. At the encouragement of a very committed and caring manager, we presented a few songs towards getting them to fund us as a regular activity.

“We have a cd player, and it’s cheaper.”

What could we say to that.

A few weeks later, we won a funding bid to deliver 8 sessions, which ended up with extra funding to perform at the prestigious Manchester Midland Hotel (more on another post).

We had been warned that some would take to us better than others, and were thrilled to see our name on the notice board each week. We wondered how so many kept turning up, and noticed that each week, there was a little, shall we say, “encouragement” thrown in.

Week 1: Bailey’s and coffee

Week 2: Cake

Week 3: Ice-lollies (it was so hot!)

Week 4: Choccy biccies

And so it went.

The quote we loved best, that we remember every time we’ve been invited back is:

“If I had known how good this would be for me, for all of us, I wouldn’t have thought twice about giving you the money.”

From the same person who wanted to use a cd player.

The manager said afterwards that after spending those weeks singing together, the group had become a family. When you consider that a group of adults, a group of strangers, have had to come together, not out of choice but circumstance, and are now asked to live near each other, share meals and activities together, with little in common besides a change in circumstance, this would be a challenge for most people. Potentially far from familiar friends and faces to be nearer family, far from the independent life that they had for so many years, it can be tricky to find common ground. Music has been the answer for this group.

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