Summary
‘Care to Sing!’ is a choir that is run for all unpaid Carers in East Lothian. The choir currently consists of 20 members,a choir leader and a Carer Support Worker who facilitates the project. The choir meets weekly to sing, laugh, relax, offer support each other,make friends and have a break.
What Care to Sing! did
‘Care to Sing!’ is a choir made up of 20 Carers, a Choir Leader and a Carer Support Worker who facilitates the running of the choir.
The choir is open to all unpaid Carers in the East Lothian area who are registered through Carers of East Lothian (COEL)
They meet weekly for 1 1/2 hours in the East Lothian Community Hospital
The Carers are made aware of the choir through registering with COEL, through our media sites, fliers, posters and often through word of mouth.
The choir benefits greatly from having a skilled choir leader.
The choir has benefited from having access to a photographer who has produced a short film featuring the choir during a session.She has recently taken some stills of the choir. This has and will continue to provide publicity for the choir and encourage more Carers to join.
The idea of setting up the choir was to provide Carers with an essential and regular break which would also give them all the far reaching health benefits that come with singing.
We emphasise that being able to sing well is not essential but that a love for singing with others is.
What is working well is that the choir is growing in confidence in many ways. They are encouraged by the sounds they are making and skills they are developing with harmony and ‘in the round’ singing an enjoy the creative and fun warm-ups leading up to these practices.
They are visibly proud of what they have achieved since meeting face to face in February this year and recently managed an impromptu performance in the hospital foyer to the great delight of passing hospital staff, visitors and those in the café.
Three of the choir members have gained enough confidence to join other more established choirs in the area which are also run by our choir leader.These will be performing in a christmas concert which will be watched by the Care to Sing Choir which will benefit both parties!
The choir have also made great friendships and benefit greatly from peer support.
The choir's reputation is steadily growing and are now being asked to sing to patients and staff in the long stay wards within the hospital and at Carer events.
What Carers of East Lothian has learned
The Carers who form the choir are visibly benefiting from regularly meeting with a friendly group who have a strong purpose and common bond. The Carers openly talk about the joy they experience and the health benefits they gain from singing as well as creating strong friendships and receiving valuable peer group support.
There is a healthy camaraderie has developed amongst the group and new members quickly comment on how noticeable this is and are made to feel instantly welcome.
Lessons we have learned in this short but highly productive time is how important it is to encourage the group to be creative and involved in where the choir is going and to be able to acknowledge their achievements. They are more confident and vocal about how they themselves wish to plan ahead for future informal performances to enable them to stretch themselves further.
Attendance has, especially at the beginning been fragmented at times and took time to establish numbers due to the need for the group to prioritise caring duties.
This is something we can explore further as to how to help Carers access the choir more easily and to be able to overcome these difficulties.
Now that numbers have increased and Carers have more of a sense of belonging, they are beginning to make more effort to put their own needs first and prioritise their time enable them to attend the choir sessions and have more confidence to sing out in a larger group.
We have been fortunate to have the support of a photographer who has made it possible to reach out to our media sites, as well as producing flyers to promote the choir to other Carers.
The choir plan to sing at our AGM on 28th November, at a Carer’s Christmas event and to the residents in one of the long stay wards in the Hospital in December.This will give the choir valuable publicity and inevitably reach out to more Carers who will benefit from becoming part of it.
The choir has developed into a strong cohesive group now that the challenges of Covid have lessened.Numbers have gradually increased to 20 members with a steady stream of new people joining.
We plan to build on what we have achieved with more performances after the New Year.
A good working partnership has developed with Choir leader who is also now able to promote not only the choir but the organisation as a whole and therefore the needs of Carers.
How Carers of East Lothian has benefitted from the funding
The organisation has benefited from partnership working with our choir leader who is independent of the organisation. She has as a result become more aware of the organisation as a whole and
because Carers of East Lothian and the choir are based within the local hospital,we are becoming more visible to the Hospital community. We have been asked to sing in one of the 'long stay' wards for the residents. I envisage this becoming a regular thing. Impromptu performances in the hospital Cafe have also raised awareness of the organisation.
The local press also ran a feature on the choir again raising awareness of the organisation as a whole.
The choir specifically run for Carers will hopefully be a flagship to encourage and promote to other Carer organisations to consider running similar projects. -reaching out and presenting the project to other Carer organisations would be something to consider.
Facilitating the choir has allowed me to develop skills in managing large groups and administrative tasks as well as completing fund applications and reports.
Project Outcomes
Outcome
Carers will have attended the group regularly and will report that they have developed their interest and ability in singing and formed supportive friendships.
Results
Choir numbers have gradually risen since being able to meet face to face in from February 2022. There are now 20 members.
Carers are attending more regularly and making great effort to commit as they have formed attachments and friendships whilst benefiting from peer group support.
They are developing new skills in harmonising learning rounds,warm ups whilst enjoying all the far reaching benefits that come with singing with others.
They are growing in confidence and Carers report on how 'happy'they are being part of the group. There is much laughter during the sessions and during the 20 minutes at the end when the group enjoy their time chat,share offer mutual support and relax over coffee and biscuits.
Case study
Case Study Sylvia 49yrs
Sylvia has been caring for her Son for many years.
Her caring situation has been become increasingly more challenging recently and prior to starting the choir, Sylvia’s own health had started to suffer due to the stress she was experiencing as a result of her Son's care needs.
Although Sylvia receives 1:1 support, she places great value on her time with the choir.
Here are Sylvia’s thoughts on how much the choir means to her and the importance of having a regular break with the added bonus of learning new skills, health benefits and making new friends
'I really look forward to going to the choir each week. Singing makes me feel happy and it gives my mind a break from other things going on in my life! In fact, during lockdown, it was the highlight of my week!
Our singing teacher (Anya) is amazing! The emphasis is all about having fun and Anya is very skilled, enthusiastic and encouraging. The sessions are so well structured with warm up exercises, then familiar songs, followed by some new ones. From African chants, folk, spiritual, film, pop songs and rounds and harmonies, then finishing with our ‘goodbye until we meet again song’, there’s something for everyone! We are all made to feel welcome and because it’s a group activity there’s no pressure.
Coffee, tea and biscuits and a chance to chat and get to know the others, is a lovely way to end the session'
Since sharing these thoughts, Sylvia has gained enough confidence to join another of Anya’s more established choir with more experienced singers where she will have the chance to perform regularly and is able to taking more time out from her caring role.
She is also ready to take up challenges within the Carer’s choir and actively encourages others to do the same.
Sylvia has no doubt that the benefits she has experienced from being part of the group has had a positive impact on her caring role. It continues to provide a focus for her and has ‘stretched’ her more than she could have ever imagined. She feels her relationship with her Son has improved as a result of her enhanced confidence, self-esteem and lower levels of stress.
Outcome
Carers will report that they are less stressed by their caring responsibilities.
Results
Carers report regularly as to how valuable the sessions are to them. That they look forward to singing and socialising with other members of the group which many have described as the highlight of their week.
New members form instant bonds with established members and most,if they are able will meet in the hospital Cafe before and after the session and therefore extending their time together.
The group are visibly relaxed and appreciative of this time.
The group are looking forward to planned activities together outwith choir time.
Case study
Jacquie (65 yrs) has been caring for her Daughter for many years.Her Daughter struggled as a child and continues to struggle with the same issues in adult life.
Jacquie spends a lot of her time supporting her Daughter and although she receives 1:1 support, she now prioritises her time with the choir as it is of great importance to her.
For Jacquie,the choir provides an essential break which she makes the best of and her humour and guidance, being one of the more established members, provides others in the group with laughter and comfort.
Here are Jacquie's thoughts
'I didn't know i could sing, until Jenny invited me to the group. And now I realise I can and I really love it. And I love it even more, because caring is all encompassing, except when your singing. For an hour I forget about caring, and all the millions of worries that go with it, and just completely focus on singing and breathing. We have a very happy time together, we're all carers, and were caring for each other there too. There's a special bond. So its not just any singing group, it's a very special singing group with such positivity, and I know its so good for my mental health. It lifts my spirits. And I'm learning a new skill at the age of 65!! A wonderful challenge".
Outcome
Carers will report better health.
Results
Carers report that they are more able to carry out their caring role due to their involvement in the Care to Sing! project. They leave with their spirits uplifted and feel energised having been able to take essential time out for them. This has an immediate and positive effect on newer members.
The group share their Carer stories with each other which creates empathy and helps them develop coping strategies.
They often report that the Cared for person has noticed a difference in their stress levels too.
Knowing that they have that dedicated time for them has impacted so positively on their lives.
Case study
Paul (80yrs) cared for his wife in her later years up until her death a few months ago.
His sessions with the choir helped Paul refocus and made him realise that it was possible to have a life outside of his caring role. He had becoming exhausted. He realised the need for some essential self care, to step back and review his situation before he too became seriously unwell. This decision ultimately helped him to continue supporting his wife until it became necessary for her to go into long term care. She sadly passed away shortly after.
Paul continues to sing with the choir which has helped and him through his grief as well as receiving support from other members. He has now gained enough confidence and courage to move on from the Carers choir and join another community choir run by our choir leader.