Hexham Day Of Song - Saturday 25th June 2022

Dear singers

You may already have this on your radar and be spreading the word - if so, many thanks! If not, here is some information for you to pass on to your choir, thanks in advance for that.

We are still finalising details for making bookings but would love as many people as possible to note the date and think about coming, whether on their own or with others from your choir.

We would also like to know from you:-

a) if your choir would be interested in singing somewhere in Hexham between workshops

b) if you would be interested in performing in the evening concert at the Queen's Hall. No promises, it will be a full programme!

c) if we have the correct contact address for you

Do let us know about all that.

Many thanks

Come and sing - Hexham Day of Song Saturday 25th June 2022 - singing, workshops, and vocal fun in Hexham - a diary date for you

Hexham will come alive with song on Saturday 25th June 2022 and we’d love you to join us. Tynedale Community Choir is celebrating its 20th birthday in style with a day of workshops and performances all around the lovely historic Northumberland town. Ali Burns is leading our mass warm up; leaders from near and far will run a range of great workshops; choirs can busk around the town and we’ll round off with a grand finale evening concert, maybe featuring you! Come along - on your own, with buddies, or your own choir - all abilities, ages and voices welcome Full details to come later but put the date in your diary now Drop us a note on TCCsingingfestival2022@gmail.com to be sure to be updated on this event. Looking forward to seeing you and us all singing together again -- Tynedale Community Choir Working with Queen's Hall Arts, Hexham.

The Teach Nepal Project

Here, Alison gives details of the project she is involved with in Nepal.

I will be spending the month of April working with the TNP (Teach Nepal Project). Read the following and, if you would like to donate to TNP, please pay it into the choir bank account with a reference to identify that it will be for Teach Nepal. We will then send one donation (to avoid large foreign currency transfer charges). However small or large your donation, it will all go to this very good cause.

The Teach Nepal Project is a small charity, set up by a group of my ex-colleagues; all teachers from the British School in the Netherlands. Since 2015, TNP volunteers have visited the area around the village of Ghachok in the Kaski area of western Nepal on 6 occasions to run training sessions for teachers from 10 schools in the village of Ghachok and the Seti valley. Good contacts have been established with local NGOs, and TNP’s support of the schools has developed into creating a library in each of the schools, a community library and IT centre. The local population are mainly intensive subsistence farmers using primitive farming methods. Their incomes are low and they lack all the basic services that we take for granted. The area was also devastated by the earthquake in 2015. Despite the lack of resources and low level of English the children are highly motivated to learn. Teach Nepal Project is a registered charity.

Check out the following link for more details.

Teach Nepal Project – Training the Nepalese teachers how to improve their English teaching. (wordpress.com)

Below are some of the aims for 2021-22. There is a lot to do and despite the difficulties caused by Covid, some have been completed. You can find out more on the blog section on the website and the following link: volunteer-information-1.ppsx (live.com)

• School improvements to create a more attractive and comfortable learning environment –(update: the libraries and the nursery classes have been decorated and furnished in the schools)

• The provision of resources, English language books, games and equipment to encourage learning

• Resources for the teachers either through our training courses usually delivered in early April to include printing of booklets, flashcards and worksheets

• The decoration and furniture for the IT Training Centre and Community Library

• An upgrade for the building to ensure better security and a more comfortable learning environment

• Equipment to include computers, a printer and beamer to support the teacher trainer in the delivery of the IT courses

• Installation of the internet, electricity supply and running costs of these services Proposed expenditure for 2021 - 2022;

• Sponsoring the installation of computer labs into the schools by EduTech Nepal, an organisation that has successfully installed and supports over 200 rural schools in Nepal.

• Completion of one more nursery class once the building is complete

• The provision of some outdoor educational equipment for the younger students

• The provision of a solar unit on the IT Training Centre as back up when the power supply fails

• The annual school fees for 5 girls from a poor family

• The provision of 5 more smokeless stoves into the homes of poor families

Thank you in advance for any donation, large or small that you can make. It will be much appreciated.

Alison McPhillips

Morning Zings Are Back

We really enjoyed our Winter weekday mornings, sharing a song or two with you during Jan/Feb (into March?) 2021. So we are doing it all over again.

Please reply to sarahcgray@aol.com and we will send you the link to join in.

It will be at 10am for 20-30mins, Monday to Thursday from 10th January 2022.

We aren't sure yet when it will finish!

It's totally FREE (if you want to donate something to a Mental Heath Charity then please do) and as much for our benefit as yours. We have a huge back catalogue of songs from running Soup & Sing (and latterly Zoup & Zing) for the last 15 years and we want to share them with you. We will probably repeat ourselves, and you will be familiar with a lot of our repertoire from previous workshops, but I know you will forgive us and enjoy singing along with us.

As before, after an initial chat you guys will be on mute, and we will do warm ups and simple songs before teaching you something that you can take with you into the day and hum (driving everyone else mad no doubt) until we teach you another one the next day. It's gonna be lots of fun. There is always a bit of stretching and breath work too, which is good for all of us.

Tell everyone!! All welcome - we just need you to let us know, so we can send the link and be aware of who is joining us. You don't have to 'come' every day - feel free to dip in and out. You soon start to recognise each other and can chat in the chat box. If anyone wants a refresher on how to use Zoom, give us a shout and we can 'meet' you in the meeting beforehand.

See you soon

Alison and Sarah x

Soup & Sing Leaders