A friend of mine, a freelance writer/philosopher/theologian (who’s blog can be found here) has just scuppered my attempt to convince people in my risk assessment that singing is safe, by saying the following…
“Singing is one of the most dangerously subversive, creative, life-affirming, anti-consumerist activities in the universe. “
Damn!
When I’m out and about I am quite open to chatting with random people on the street (obviously the ’stranger danger’ message passed me by). The past couple of days I’ve chatted with various different people – mainly older people – and the contrast is sometimes astounding – and makes me realise what a big age range ‘older people’ cover – 30 years!
Walking on Port Meadow, and passing through a gate an old woman said to me “don’t grow as old as me, you won’t enjoy it… I’m past my sell-by-date” - I beg to differ.
Yesterday at a bus stop I had a brief conversation with a woman who said she wanted to get her karate black belt by age seventy (she was sixty-nine) and an A* in GCSE Science. Refreshing.
I was just looking back through my bookmarks – bookmarking always happens fairly haphazardly for me – and I came across this post I found a little while back which I enjoyed, entitled ‘Music and Collective Wellbeing’, from Kevin Harris’ Neighbourhoods blog. Please, have a read! I think it’s interesting the importance he places on relationship – these are ultimately one of the most important things for our overall wellbeing.
I love singing and this project is so much fun for me, let alone the participants! Watching older people engage in a creative experience is very rewarding. Seeing them smile and laugh, and ask to take the song-sheets home at the end is such a joy, for me, and for them. But what else? The Silver Song Club model, run across the South-East region by the charity Sing For Your Life has pioneered singing for older people and have developed, from extensive evaluation of its clubs, a set of criteria:
Initiate one-to-one welcoming
Invoke memories
Stimulate fine motor skills
Stimulate grand motor skills
Encourage social interaction
Encourage client leadership
Provide progressive learning outcomes
Provide platforms for reminiscence dialogue
Give free choice
Cover multicultural material
Encourage shared performance
(from the Sing for Your Life website)
These criteria help shape workshops which engage with individuals through physical and mental stimulation, no matter what their circumstances/abilities, as well as helping facilitate interaction between the participants, and develop community. Having been involved for a little while with a Silver Song Club, the intentionality of some of these criteria can be fantastic to shape what could simply be a sing-along into something with more structure and purpose. However, it can run the risk of being formulaic, lacking in spontaneity as well as being a little bit patronising. Despite this, it is an extremely good checklist for workshops, particularly those for older older people.
The group I work with in Witney is a younger group, and on the whole everyone is still physically fit, living independently and not really needing a lot of the above criteria. Most of the participants stay on for a gentle exercise class afterwards, so I try and focus on singing new songs, on engaging their creativity by asking them to come up with new verses or actions, and on harmony singing which many find takes a lot of concentration.
It is my hope to develop my own tools and frameworks to help me when planning workshops for groups that have different needs.
Today was the third in a pilot series of ‘Singing for Fun’ sessions, so it’s more than time to reflect on how it’s going
Location
Singing for Fun is supported by Age Concern and is held on a Wednesday morning in Witney Methodist Centre. The centre is a fantastic example of how churches can really use their premises for social good. Tea and coffee are available cheaply (50p for a cup of tea) in the lobby area, so it’s a relaxed place to come and meet friends, without having to spend a lot of money on an expensive mug of something-you-can’t-pronounce.
People
The first week 8 people came, the following week there were 11 and this week, 10, plus two carers. In all, about 17 different people.
There is no minimum or maximum age on this project – anyone can join in, although because it is on a weekday morning, and supported by Age Concern, the average age I would guess is around 65. The people who attend are mainly quite ‘young’, but it is really great to see a mixture of people of varying abilities and mobilities.
Workshop Set-up
The sessions are set up in a hall with a circle of chairs – so everyone feels included, although occasionally there have been people who simply want to listen, and whilst they are invited into the circle, they sometimes choose to sit at the edge. I sit in the circle – with a low music stand. Participants have a booklet of the songs we will be singing, approximately in the right order. This saves time during the session because there is no handing out/taking in sheets, and it is simpler for the participants to follow.
The sessions run for an hour – although we don’t usually get started until about 10.25 (the advertised start time is 10.15), but as there is an exercise class at 11.30, I try and finish on time at 11.15. It would be great to try and start on time, so I have more time to introduce some more challenging songs…
…please read the next post for some more reflections on the workshop content and structure.