Published on 15 February 2021
Find Your Voice – an on-line weekly Singing and Social Group
A group for people with (but not exclusively) Parkinson’s, Motor Neurone diseases, Neurological diseases, Multiple Sclerosis and Stroke.
Relatives and carers are also welcome to join us.
Currently our weekly sessions take place Monday’s on-line via zoom, at 1.30pm until 2.30pm.
Frankie, our wonderful trained Parkinson’s singing facilitator takes us through gentle breathing and seated exercises, facial exercises to warm up our muscles, voice and singing warm-ups, followed by singing.
You don’t need to be able to sing, (this isn’t a choir). As we are on zoom we mute everyone except Frankie and people can sing at home either on their own or with other family members joining in too.
It’s a really friendly group and the idea is to have fun whilst exercising important swallowing and speech muscles which can improve the strength of your voice, swallowing and breathing.
Please contact Louise Rendle for more details on 01380871800 or email info.wsun@btconnect.com
What our group members say:
Our members really appreciate the improved wellbeing that our singing group brings;
‘I’ve never felt so accepted and welcomed in any group before. This is despite my near-blindness and my Parkinson’s. The voice exercises and singing have strengthened my voice so people can hear me better. I feel much more confident now and I really look forward to our weekly singing sessions and I love that we can still take part on-line.’
‘In my opinion the pre-singing exercises carry benefits beyond the singing session. They help me with the control of my throat which makes eating easier and speech clearer. The stretching improves my general posture and core flexibility.’
‘Although I was surprised to be asked to do seated exercise before singing, I soon learnt that it made a big difference to the volume of my voice. I have Parkinson’s and my voice has become very quiet and I tend to tense the muscles in my upper body. The seated exercises relax my face, neck and shoulders and help with my breathing. As my breathing is often shallow, I have found the exercises useful for everyday purposes so that my voice is heard.’