Elmhurst Sings with the Hamilton Project

The Hamilton Project was set up to share the legacy of Bury born Victoria Wood and is funded by Bury Council and the Victoria Wood Foundation. Elmhurst was delighted to welcome them for a free singalong in May, for an hour between 3-4pm. Having negotiated the visitor's protocols for Covid-19, Beth Allen and Carol Jason were introduced to everyone.

We started off with Morecombe & Wise, "Bring Me Sunshine" (complete with Makaton signage), went retro with a rendition of The Monkees "Daydream Believer" and nearly took the roof off with "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", before the combined ukuleles led us to George Formby's "Leaning on a Lamppost".

One of our customers, Geoff, joined Beth and Carol for a solo spot during "Leaning on a Lamppost" and then told us a lovely story of how he had, as a young motorcycle enthusiast, spotted a gleaming new bike in the window of a shop, then on Deansgate in Manchester.

On closer inspection he found that this lovely bike had already been sold to "Mr G. Formby, Esq". It was a touching addition to the afternoon.

Adaptability is one of Persona's key values and Robbie, one of our carers, certainly proved his star quality! We think he may have missed his vocation as he provided vocal assistance to Beth and Carol on a few numbers, but will be indelibly marked on Elmhurst's memory with his vocal contribution (complete with tie) as 'Barry' in the Tale of Barry & Freda, known best as "Let's Do It". How lovely to hear so many people laughing together.

That hour was such a tonic for all of us. What better way to spend that time than to see customers singing, animated, laughing, smiling? Wonderful.

We will definitely be using this resource again and if any other services would like a similar afternoon, the charity can be contacted at diana@thehamiltonproject.co.uk

by Karen Wood, Elmhurst Activity Coordinator

One of our customers, Geoff, joined Beth and Carol for a solo spot during "Leaning on a Lamppost" and then told us a lovely story of how he had, as a young motorcycle enthusiast, spotted a gleaming new bike in the window of a shop, then on Deansgate in Manchester.

On closer inspection he found that this lovely bike had already been sold to "Mr G. Formby, Esq". It was a touching addition to the afternoon.

Having negotiated the visitor's protocols for Covid-19, Beth Allen and Carol Jason were introduced to everyone.