Support for Golden Oldies

Published by Papadoc47 for North Somerset Housing Ltd in Housing and also in Communities

A new Charity that is putting smiles on the faces of hundreds of elderly people wants to hear from enthusiastic musical people in the North Somerset area.

Steve Chinn NSHousings Director of Operations, said: As soon as we heard of the work of the new Golden-Oldies Charity, we were impressed and wanted to bring Golden-Oldies to North Somerset. The sessions will take place at Sheltered Housing cmmunity rooms in the North and South of the district. The first sessions will be held at Martindale Court in Weston-super-Mare and others in Portishead.

We have provided money from our NSHousing Community Fund in support of this project. We feel confident that we can work together towards our combined vision of stronger communities and reduce the amount of older people feeling isolated.

Golden-Oldies are launching in North Somerset during the 1st week in September, as this is National Elder Week and we are delighted to be backing the Charity.

Golden-Oldies launched in Bath & North East Somerset in January this year, attracting huge media attention from across the World.

Financial support has come from a number of major commercial sponsors, including Tesco, Bupa Care Homes and HSBC. The Charity is also being funded by a number of Charitable Trusts across the UK and is already working closely with organisations such as Age Concern and Help the Aged.

It was featured on the BBC National 6 oclock News in January and TV crews from Canada and Germany have visited Bath to report on the Goldies success story.

The founder, Grenville Jones, is well-respected in the West of England through his leadership of a number of choirs and music groups. He is the man with a reputation for getting people to sing! He is currently in the spotlight as founder Conductor of The City of Bath Male Choir in the BBC Saturday night Last Choir Standing programme.

His inspiration for the Golden-Oldies Charity was the BBC Television series The Zimmers. says Grenville.

When I watched that programme I realised just how many lonely and isolated people there were in this country. Singing makes you smile and is a wonderful hobby.

Golden-Oldies is the Charity and it is the Goldies who enjoy the free one hour, fun sing-a-long sessions to the music of the 50s, 60s and 70s. In a short space of time, Bath now has over 12 sessions a week plus a hugely popular monthly session.

By the end of this year Golden-Oldies will have spread across the West of England with regular sessions from Weston-super-Mare to Westbury, Swindon to Somerton and Gloucester to Glastonbury.

Grenville now wants to hear from people in North Somerset who would be interested in taking the regular weekly singing sessions, he explains: We are not looking for Choir conductors necessarily. The first requirement is a strong singing voice and an enthusiasm to really get involved and take the work of our new charity forward in the Town. The session takers do not have to play an instrument as they are always to a backing track.

If you can press the start button on a CD player, love to sing and love your nan, then we want to hear from you! Says Grenville, call Abby Rakes on 01761 470006.

Session takers are paid £30 per session plus mileage and all follow the same repertoire of music. Goldies is simply about giving people something to look forward to, a concert, a trip to the seaside, a day out, a Christmas Carol Service.

Grenvilles vision looks forward to five years time when he wants to stage the BIG SING, thats thousands of Goldies arriving by coach in London for a memorable day out.