Sing Your Pain Away!
Singing for Wellbeing, Health and Fun
What our customers are saying
I suffer from Seropositive Chronic Rheumatoid Arthritis since the age of 6 but, as I have aged so has the condition. Damaging more and more of my joints. I gave up full time employment, went self-employed and now I can only do voluntary. The condition is very unpredictable and the pain generally worsens with the weather pressure. It is either the sudden rise or sudden drop in temperature that brings the pain on.
I have found over the years music and singing to relieve my pain; to the point that, the pain is manageable. When I found SYPA on Facebook, the pain I was experiencing was torture. There was a lot of stresses in my life at the time adding to the strain of dealing with pain, my mental health was at all time low. I pushed myself to step out my door and go to my first session of singing at Wisdom House in Romsey on November 2019 and never looked back.
The joy I get from singing with others, the people and the songs just took away any aches or sadness I felt before I stepped into the room. My condition does make me quite unsociable so, managing to go and sing with other people is a big deal for me.
When COVID hit, I thought I wouldn’t get my weekly boost of joy but, we went virtual on Zoom and it brings just as much joy to my life. I don’t think I would have been able to cope during these strange times without my singing sessions. I am so grateful to Jane and will always be for my current pain free days!
Ms Josephine Metcher – Romsey Hampshire.
I joined SYPA a year ago now, and it's definitely one of the best things I've done in years! Although I have always enjoyed singing (mostly to myself!) I know that my enthusiasm far outstrips my capability.
At school I loved singing in the choir, but it was clear that my voice was lacking. Thankfully I was surrounded by good friends with lovely voices who stood around me and sang loudly to cover my deficiencies - taking part was just such a wonderful experience. However since then I have never been brave enough to join a choir in the 'real world' ... until I met Jane.
SYPA offers a friendly, welcoming, non-threatening environment for everyone to find their voice (whatever it may sound like). I love the mix of tunes that we sing and the way in which the songs are taught in stages and then pieced together to make the whole. I am not an expert in music terminology and I can not read music but this has not been a barrier to me being included in the classes - we all come to the class with different capabilities and Jane does a great job of teaching us what we need to know in order to sing as a group and enjoy the shared experience.
Through SYPA I have made a whole new group of friends and we have thoroughly enjoyed our weekly meetings both in person and then online in the zoom class - we meet outside class too. The Christmas SYPA Special 2019 was wonderful fun as we got to meet members from several other SYPA groups to sing and socialise together.
I have definitely become more confident over the last year sharing time with Jane and her team who are all so supportive and caring. My family say my singing isn't as bad as it used to be (high praise indeed!!) so something is working over time, and I'm very happy to keep up my weekly practice in the hope that this improvement continues.
I would not hesitate in recommended SYPA to anyone who wanted to sing as I'm sure they would enjoy it just as much as I and all my new friends do.
Joanne Bain - Amersham Bucks Group
I think Sing Your Pain Away is a brilliant idea!
I am 90 years old and completely blind, but Jane has found a way where I can use Siri to join the Zoom class by telephone. Being in a care home, the days drag, but this is something for me to look forward to each week.
Jane makes the class completely inclusive so despite being unable to travel or to see I can still hear, sing and chat with everyone. I love listening to the songs and the harmonies and it’s a chance to get together with friends and make new friends.
Each session has a theme and Jane describes what people are wearing or what accessory they have brought to interpret the theme, so I have a picture in my mind of how it all looks.
The class is ideal for someone in my position and I really look forward to it every week.
Joy Hayden - Bourne End Bucks Group
“I would just like to say how much I enjoyed today’s get together. I thought you were brilliant! It’s very rarely I get the chance to sing at ‘full blast’ and although I’m sure I didn’t keep in tune all the time, I loved it! My daughter is a Music Teacher and I know she would have been impressed too! Thank you once again for such an uplifting, enjoyable afternoon.”
Sue Walker - Amersham Bucks Group
Some of Our Recent Projects
Christmas 2019 BIG Sing
70 singers from our various groups get together to celebrate Christmas!
93.42% of respondents in our September 2019 survey said that they were likely to recommend Sing Your Pain Away to a friend