Sing for Life

I joined a new choir last year. It's called Sing for Life and was set up by Cancer Focus and the Crescent Arts Centre. The choir is for anyone affected by cancer, whether that person is yourself, a family member or a friend. With these criteria, it pretty much includes everyone.

We are a community choir of over fifty strong. None of us are particularly expert singers but we all get a great buzz from taking part. We sing a wide range of material from medieval (Gaudete) to traditional (Danny Boy) to soul (Lean on Me). We perform too, with gigs at the Black Box (16 April) and Fisherwick Church (22 April) coming up.

This year Cancer Focus is the main charity of the Belfast Marathon, which takes place on 6 May. Their aim is to raise awareness of men's cancers and to raise funds. They asked if they could use my cancer story in their publicity and I agreed.

I also suggested to choir members that we formed a team to enter the Marathon Walk (9 miles). A walking group began and we started meeting every couple of weeks to train for the event. I'm pleased to say that the walking team is now 15 strong and we're looking forward to taking part on May 6.

Is anyone willing to sponsor me (every pound will count) to complete the Marathon Walk on 6 May?


The Daily Mirror is the newspaper linked to the Belfast Marathon and last Saturday this piece appeared (apologies for the cheesy headline).