Guild Care singing group has great benefits and it's all for fun

Guild Care's Singing for Fun group, which helps combat isolation and poor health, is looking for more members.
By The Newsroom
Published 28th Oct 2018, 11:00 BST
Singing can benefit health and wellbeing and helps people feel less isolated by building new friendshipsSinging can benefit health and wellbeing and helps people feel less isolated by building new friendships
Singing can benefit health and wellbeing and helps people feel less isolated by building new friendships

Husband and wife Roger and Sheila Sharman started the group after singing helped them when they were suffering with their own health issues.

Roger said: “I’ve got bad lungs and when I left work I was looking for something to help so I joined a little singing group in Brighton and I found singing did help my breathing.”

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Singing for Fun is a spin-off of the group Singing for Better Health, run by Udita Everett, with six groups in Brighton and Hove. Udita generously gave the couple the words and music to start their group and trained Roger in breathing exercises.

Roger and Sheila Sharman, who started the singing groupRoger and Sheila Sharman, who started the singing group
Roger and Sheila Sharman, who started the singing group

They believe your health and wellbeing can benefit from singing, by using a combination of specific relaxation, posture and breathing exercises.

When Roger and Sheila realised there was a demand for a singing group in the Worthing area, they contacted Guild Care, a charity they knew from a family member who uses their home care service, and were told they could run the group at the day centre.

Their singing venture started with only five attendees but has now grown to an impressive 35 to 40 people each week, all with a range of health conditions and abilities. The group helps tackle isolation and loneliness, as friendships have developed and blossomed through the company of singing.

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The couple are now looking to expand their group even further and reach even more older people in the area who have a desire to meet new people, benefit from breathing exercises and enjoy singing the classics, with no special ability needed.

The group meets at Methold House, where members are provided with song books kindly donated by Cardiac Rehab Support West Sussex, or lyrics projected on to the screen for songs with which they are all familiar.

Roger and Sheila stress their group is not a choir but a group of people coming together to sing the songs they love, such as the likes of Bob Marley, The Beatles and Abba.

Roger said: “It’s music from people’s youth, so they know the words and they enjoy singing it.”

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Singing for Fun runs every Tuesday from 3.15pm to 4.45pm at the Guild Care Centre, Methold House, North Street, Worthing BN11 1DU.

The Guild Care Centre runs a range of health and well-being services for older people to enjoy themselves and have fun with other like-minded people. These support and encourage people to remain active and enjoy a healthy and fun lifestyle, whatever their interests or abilities.

Anyone aged from 50 to over 100 is welcome to enjoy a wide range of activities and classes, including arts and crafts, bingo, computing, exercise, musical entertainment and much more.

For more information on the group or Guild Care, please call the enquiries team on 01903 327327 or visit www.guildcare.org

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Related topics:Guild CareBrightonHove