We are all living in challenging times and whilst being unable to hold, for the past 8 weeks the very activity which has been DSO’s core, it has certainly prompted us to reassess our work. This Newsletter updates you on how we have adapted to the Charity having to suspend our weekly singing sessions.

THE SESSION FROM GARETH’S ‘BUNKER’

Our very first remote session led by Gareth last Thursday exceeded our hopes. Over 60 friends, supporters and benefactors joined our 25-minute ‘Zoom’ session.  Mastering ‘Zoom’ has challenged so many of us but we decided with Gareth that this would be the best vehicle for our initiative. Perhaps you were one of those who polished off your moving and grooving, recalled the lyrics of “My Boy Lollipop” and perhaps even played last Thursday’s singing session again at your leisure.  

The nature of the feedback from Week 1 has confirmed our intention of building upon this initial session in the coming weeks. and the selection below provides a taste:

“Thank you that was amazing. Well done team. Put together beautifully, short & sweet, loved every minute of it”

 “It was lovely to see everyone & looking at their faces brought joy to us all”

 “LOVED THAT!!! So lovely to see others dancing & singing along. So uplifting”

 “Please do keep these going because the weekly Thursday mornings used to be one of mum’s highlights of the week.”

We have taken the decision to hold our second session this coming week on 

Thursday 21^st May at 10.30 am. This will be the same recording as last week but we will still have the ‘live’ factor of Zoom.  The link details for access will be the same every week:

Topic: DSO Virtual Choir

Time: This is a recurring meeting

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89552573170?pwd=Y2hrWDBHRmx1NWVIUG54Z1dMUmJOdz09

 Meeting ID: 895 5257 3170

Password: To Be Confirmed

We would be delighted if families and friends, wherever they are in the world, are able to join us for an uplifting twenty five minutes.  You can either forward the link to them or ask them to email this address and we will forward the link directly to them and add them to our DSO email supporters group.

NEXT STEPS

We appreciate that realistically it will be some time before larger gatherings such as our pre-Lockdown weekly Thursdays will be sanctioned by the Government. No one could possibly have contemplated this sort of challenge when we launched DSO in July 2019 but we are even more determined to keep our charity alive because of the joy which we witnessed for 8 months. To see that still very much in evidence despite the tribulations of the lockdown, has strengthened our resolve.

As trustees of Dementia Sings Out we continue to pray for our friends including those who have succumbed to Covid-19 as well as for all of our wonderful carers. The lockdown positivity which we hear about helps us to retain our own optimism in thinking ahead for the return of ‘new normality’.

We hope that launching our online Choir sessions has brought some familiarity to such challenging times, and we continue to welcome feedback on our sessions so that everyone accessing them can enjoy the best DSO experience possible.

Please watch out for updates on our Facebook page and most importantly via our website http://dementiasingsout.org/live/  where you can watch the recorded regular sessions regardless of where you are – a fantastic new resource which families and friends can access at any time to cheer yourselves up!

Garry, Ruth, Judith, Cathie, Kathryn, Baz, Lucy & Gareth.