03/02/2026
Back in November 2025, Rebecca had the brilliant idea to start a singing group at Natural Breaks for people we support. As a professional singing teacher outside of her day job as a support worker, Rebecca had not run weekly singing sessions for quite a while and thought it might be something Natural Breaks would be interested in 👨🏻‍🎤
At the beginning, Rebecca’s goal was to simply facilitate some joy by bringing people together to sing each week. She was interested in getting to meet more people supported by Natural Breaks and what they could create, together.
Going back to that first session, Rebecca described the energy as being off the scale. She said: “I was so impressed with how everyone threw themselves into singing their favourite Christmas songs, even if it was only November”!
As the weeks went by and the singing sessions grew from strength to strength, Rebecca noticed the positive impact it brought to people’s lives. Reflecting, she shared: “I think singing as a group is great way to build confidence, especially in a group like that, where everyone was so supportive. I loved seeing the quieter members of the group putting themselves forward to sing solo parts but, also, how different levels of engagement suited different people, whether that was shaking some jingle bells or playing the keyboard. I think the sessions brought a lot of communal joy and high spirits”💫
Fast forward to Friday 19th December, after many choir practises, our singing group took to Liverpool City Centre to perform a series of classic Christmas carols. From Last Christmas to Jingle Bells, they covered them all. Rebecca added: “I was so impressed with the enthusiasm that the gang brought when we did the city centre performances. I particularly enjoyed it when they sang Jingle Bells with Anthony playing keys and then kept on singing A Capela whilst we had some minor technical difficulties”.
On the day, our choir was joined by families and colleagues who showed support and sung along. It created a great energy and there was a real buzz, from beginning to end. We were able to use the space to chat to the public and raise awareness about Natural Breaks, and the work we do 🚀
Reflecting on the overall experience, Rebecca shared: “I think one of the great things about the choir was that it enabled the people we support and other staff members to sing together, encourage each other to be brave and perhaps step a little outside their comfort zones. I really hope it's encouraged members of the group to keep singing and join us again next time around of course! I'm incredibly appreciative to the team at Natural Breaks for running with the idea of a choir. Not just finding a space for us to sing but actively making it a wonderful process - from printing lyrics and buying speakers to joining and performing with the choir! It was a special experience”.