Alfie's Story

Mental health is at the forefront of so many issues in society today. And as a choir community that promotes singing as part of wellbeing, we thought about what this means to our members. We know it's not just about the joy of singing, but the positive emotional wellbeing that being part of our choir gives our members.
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That's why we are talking about 'belonging' as an important part of a mental health support network.

Alfie, a member of one of our East Kent choirs, talks about his experience and why belonging to our community has literally been life changing for him.

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'I started choir over 5 years ago at a time when I only had two things in my life; working on the railway lines and being with my family.

I was asked by a friend of my wife to come along and I was reluctant and unsure of what to expect. I went to whitstable on a Monday night and walked into the room which was full of about 30 ladies - pretty scary! I had a few looks and some smiles and heard a few whispered ‘it’s a Man it’s a man’. I jokingly said I can come as woman next week if that helps!

When we got started I felt the energy of the room and gave it my best but it was daunting as I was singing the tenor part on my own.  I loved the session and people said please comeback so I did until we got another tenor and then another and so on - thankfully! I am very proud of being there from the start and helping welcome new people. Us tenors are like a band of brothers and I have made very special friendships with a huge range of different people. Choir has given me a huge personal boost both physically and mentally and given me a creative outlet to perform and use different aspects of myself which I couldn’t ever do previously.

Choir is a supersonic experience and I am very grateful for it in my life.'

‍Alfie  - Whitstable 

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Belonging to our choir community is about connecting with each other - through meeting new people and making special friendships! Singing is just the beginning.

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