Who would have thought that a winter sunshine cruise would result in a germ of an idea out of which evolved “Singing for Fun”, a group that gives such a great deal of pleasure to many Bishop Monkton residents.

Leader of the Group, Angie Archbold, throughly enjoyed her participation in an on-board singing group on her sailing sojourn round the Canaries and thought it might be worth “giving it a go” in the village. Inspired by the fact that the teacher only handed out words not actual music, Angie realised you didn't necessarily need the ability to read music to join a singing group. Enter Singing for Fun.

She was also inspired by English actress, Vicky McClure, who is well-known for her involvement with "Our Dementia Choir," a group founded to explore the power of music in supporting individuals with dementia.

Not that the village's Singing for Fun Group is a dementia group, far from it, but if singing could help with dementia, (and medical research is showing this can be the case) Angie reasoned it could be of benefit to many people in her own village, providing an opportunity for friendship as well as enjoyment. How right she was. Even with no proven musical ability you can literally just come along, sing and have fun. As Angie says “We are not rehearsing for a performance at the London Palladium and everybody is very welcome”.

Recruiting Catherine Jennings, a member of a local family, as pianist, the first session took place in September 2019 when just over 30 people came along. Meeting on a Tuesday afternoon and a Thursday evening (villagers can join in with both groups or just one) it quickly became a regular fixture on the village calendar until Covid struck with all its meeting restrictions.

Despite this, the group continued to meet via Zoom, singing by themselves in their own homes. They even appeared on television when one of their members rewrote the words to Petula Clark's hit “Down Town”, renaming it Lockdown, with the group performing the revised version on Zoom.

When rules eased, people were still nervous to come back together, but eventually membership of the group grew to 30 and now between 25 and 27 people regularly attend every session. Every session always ends with a joyful rendition of “Bring me Sunshine”.

At Christmas and in the summer the group put on a concert in the Methodist Chapel, raising money for charity and the three concerts so far have supported Dementia Forward, Guide Dogs for the Blind and St. Michael's Hospice.

This year's summer concert will be held on Thursday July 31st at 7 p.m. and is in aid of the Girl Guides Centre at Birk Crag in Harrogate, as the group were keen to support a younger person's charity this time. Tickets, which are selling fast, are £3. There will be a raffle and each member of the group brings along something suitable to put into a hamper for the raffle. Centre stage on the raffle table is always a beautiful hand knitted item by one of the group, also a member of the Village's Stitchers' Group. Click to read this website's earlier special report on the Stitchers' Group.

The concert will feature 14 of members' favourites tunes interspersed with poems and humorous anecdotes. Songs will include a duet from Phantom of the Opera and a rousing male solo rendition of a showstopper from Oklahoma.

It is a great evening and is always popular, so much so that there are currently only three tickets left. They can be obtained by telephoning Angie on 01765 677836 or click to email.

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