Lins Emails

Nomination for Local Vocals

Lins Emails
HI there ,
Would like to share some news that we have just received regarding Local Vocals.
We have been nominated for the BBC Radio Solent’s “Make a Difference” Awards, with the results being given out at an awards ceremony in September if we manage to get through as a finalist.
Here is the email we have received.

Dear Local Vocals

 

YOU HAVE BEEN NOMINATED!

I am delighted to tell you that you’ve been nominated for a BBC Radio Solent Make a Difference Award for 2026. Congratulations!   

The Awards recognise individuals and groups who make life better for people in our communities across Hampshire, Dorset and the Isle of Wight!

 

YOUR NOMINATION 

For data privacy reasons I cannot share who nominated you. However, I can share some of the nomination submission:  

 

The Local Vocals are an extraordinary group of people who volunteer to bring joy, connection, and comfort to people living with dementia across our Musical Moments groups. Their contribution goes far beyond entertainment; they create moments of recognition, calm, and pure happiness for individuals who often struggle to engage with the world around them. Music reaches people in a way words sometimes cannot, and our performers use their talent to open that door every single week.

They give their time freely, travelling to our groups, setting up, adapting to the needs of each room, and performing with warmth, patience, and genuine enthusiasm. Many of our group members light up the moment the first notes begin. People who may arrive withdrawn or anxious often start tapping their feet, singing along, or sharing memories sparked by familiar songs. These are small moments with enormous emotional impact — for our members, their families, and our staff.

Their generosity extends throughout the year. At Christmas, they join us for our Carols and Mince Pies events, again volunteering their time and talent without hesitation. They bring festive spirit, connection, and a sense of community at a time that can be particularly difficult for families affected by dementia.

They are not just volunteers; they are partners in creating safe, uplifting spaces where people living with dementia can feel seen, valued, and included. Their dedication transforms our groups, and we are incredibly grateful for everything they bring to our community.

________________________ 

 

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT 

 Our panel of judges will consider all entries and shortlist 32 finalists.  

  • We’ll be announcing those finalists live on BBC Radio Solent in the summer.   
  • Finalists will be invited to join us at our BBC Radio Solent Make a Difference Awards ceremony in September.  

 

FOR YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA 

I have attached a picture for you to share the news of your nomination.  

image001.jpg

 

Congratulations again on being nominated for a BBC Radio Solent Make a Difference Award! 
So well done everyone involved.

Regards

Eric

Seating at KCC

Lins Emails
Hi there,
As Chris mentioned last night, he and I met at KCC yesterday morning to try and sort out where we were going to seat everybody as we do not have the use of the rostra this year.
I enclose a copy of our seating plan, which I hope is self explanatory.
The middle section will be sat on the stage, and to the side sections are on the floor beside the stage so that you are still near the rest of the choir.
The front row is also sat on the floor, in front of the step leading up to the stage.
We will try the seating plan out next Thursday to see how it works and whether we need to tweak it.
Can you let me know asap if you are not going to be at the concert as it will effect the seating plan.
Regards
Eric
pdf icon KCC-Seating-Plan-2026.pdf

Chairman’s Newsletter

Lins Emails
Good morning to you all,
I hope you enjoyed last night’s rehearsal, and you did extremely well in learning the two songs in the first half of the rehearsal.
Any rate, here is a message from Chris regarding tomorrows visit to John Lewis and next week’s rehearsal:-

Hello everyone,

Well done on Thursday for learning “Flying Free” and “Wellerman” so quickly and so well! Thank you also to Hilary for taking the Sopranos and Altos.  Both songs sounded really good and that means we now have a complete programme of songs ready for our Summer Concert.  Here is a draft running order for our concert on June 6th and we will spend the next 3 rehearsals getting through as many of these as possible each week –


FIRST HALF

Bohemian Rhapsody

Believer

Circle of life

Go the distance

Dance a Cachucha

The Sound of Music medley

All things bright and beautiful

The Wellerman

The Seal Lullaby

Shine


SECOND HALF

Let’s Dance Medley

Let the River Run

Fix You

Something Inside So Strong

Can Can

Flying Free

Galway Girl

Why We Sing 

The Bare Necessities

Celebration


For those singing in John Lewes on Saturday we will do the following –

The Beatles Medley

Believer

The Bare Necessities

Fix You

Let’s Dance Medley

Something Inside So Strong

Shine

The Sound of Music Medley

Why We Sing

Celebration

Dance a Cachucha?

Circle of Life?


Have a good week and I will see everyone who can make it on Saturday and all of you on Thursday.

Chris
If you are going to John Lewis tomorrow, you need to be there for 11.45 so that we have time to get into position, on the third floor facing the atrium.
We are singing at Sunnybank, Fair Oak, on Wednesday, at 2.30, for Local Vocals.
Well, that’s all for now. so I will either see you tomorrow at John Lewis, Wednesday at Local Vocals, or next Thursday at rehearsal.

Bye for now.

Eric

Concert Folders

Lins Emails
Hi there,
So that we can see the state of the Concert Folders which you hold, we are requesting that you bring them along to our rehearsal on Thursday so we can have a look at them and decide whether we need to purchase the new folders.
Also, those of you that are going to donate money towards the Raffle Prizes, can you say which one the donation is for – Summer Concert or Summer Spectacular.
Many thanks
Eric

Chairman’s Newsletter

Lins Emails
Hi there,

Many thanks for those that turned up yesterday for the Mayor’s concert. I don’t believe the audience knew what to expect when they arrived, but by the end of the concert, they were all joining in, and even singing along to some of the songs.  A big thank you to Roy and Saffron for their solos, which went down well with the audience, and now we look forward to next Saturday at John Lewis.

Here’s Chris’s email for the coming week:-

Hi everyone,

First I just want to say again a big thank you to everyone who was able to sing in Saturday’s concert in West End.  It was a real privilege to be asked by the Mayor or Eastleigh to hold this concert to raise money for her charities and what a great concert it was!  I loved reading the buzz on our NMM WhatsApp group afterwards.  The concert was a big success, the Mayor and audience thoroughly enjoyed it and I thought you performed brilliantly!  Hearing how you sang and seeing how our programme went down makes me very excited about our summer concert and what it is going to sound like with a full choir!  

With four weeks left to go we need to learn two more songs for our summer concert so in the first part of our rehearsal this week Hilary will work with the ladies on FLYING FREE and I will work with the men on WELLERMAN.  Please have a listen to the practice tracks for these so you have an idea of how they go prior to Thursday.

We will then come back together and look at

– Galway Girl.

– The Sound of Music Medley

– Circle of life.

– Something Inside so Strong (final chorus)

– Shine (final chorus)

For those singing at John Lewes on Saturday I anticipate doing the following parts though it will depend a bit on how many people we have on each part.

The Beatles medley.

Believer 

The Bare Necessities

Fix you

Let’s dance medley.

Something inside so Strong

Shine

The Sound of Music Medley

Why we sing

Celebration

Dance a Cachuca?

Circle of life?

Have a good week and I look forward to seeing you on Thursday.

Chris
Next Saturday we are singing at John Lewis, in Westquay, at the same spot as we were for Christmas – 3rd floor facing the atrium.  The costume will be the same as we wore yesterday, – Gold Tops for the Ladies, White Shirts and Black Bow Ties for the Men, and Black Trousers for all.  We are singing from 12.00, so we need to be there for 11.45 to get ourselves sorted out. 
Wednesday, Local Vocals are at Snowdrop Place, Hedge End, 1.45 for 2.00 start.
As I mentioned last Thursday, we will be looking for monetary donations for raffle prizes for both the Summer Concert and the Summer Spectacular, so if you are able to spare a few pounds, can you pay it into our bank account with the reference “Raffle”.
Well, that’s all for now, so I will either see you at Local Vocals or at the rehearsal next Thursday.
Bye for now.
Eric

Chairman’s Newsletter

Lins Emails
Hi there,
First, I must send my apologies to you all.  I thought I had sent out the details of the Mayor’s Charity concert on the 9th May, but I realised after last night’s rehearsal, that I had only sent it to the 
Committee, and I was waiting for any response from them before I sent it out to you.
The details are as follows:-
Time: 1.30 for sound check – 2.30 start
Where: West End Parish Offices, Chapel Road, West End SO30 3FE
Duration: approx 2 hours
Costumes: Gold Tops for Ladies – White Shirt and Black Bow Ties for Men – both with Black Trousers, Socks and Shoes
There will be an interval where tea, coffee and biscuits will be served.
The concert is in aid of the Mayor of Eastleigh charity Appeal which is supporting three charities.
The list of songs we will be singing are listed in Chris’s message, and are all from our current programme.
Here is Chris’s message for next Thursday’s rehearsal:-
Hi Eric

Here is my email to NMM this week.
Hello “Party people”!
What a change in “Celebration” on Thursday evening! It sounded great doing it with a track and as we keep working on familiarising ourselves with words and notes and rhythms in all of our songs I do want to start looking more at expression and conveying the different character of all the songs we are learning this season.
To put our rehearsals into context here is a timeline of the number of rehearsals we have together and where our concerts and other events fall in relation to these.  Please continue to listen to and practise with tracks (especially things we have done that you are not sure of).  Rehearsal wise we have – 
1 Thursday March 26th
2 Thursday April 2nd
3 Thursday April 9th
4 Thursday April 16th
Thursday April 23rd afternoon Sing at Bitterne URC
5 Thursday April 23rd
6 Thursday April 30th
7 Thursday May 7th
SATURDAY MAY 9TH MAYORS CONCERT
8 Thursday May 14th
Saturday May 16th sing at John Lewis
9 Thursday May 21st
10 Thursday May 28th
11 Thursday June 4th
SATURDAY JUNE 6TH SUMMER CONCERT 
12 Thursday June 11th
Saturday June 13th sing at Bishops Waltham Summer Fayre
13 Thursday June 18th
14 Thursday June 25th
15 Thursday July 2nd
16 Thursday July 9th
SATURDAY JULY 11TH SUMMER SPECTACULAR
This Thursday we will finish learning The Seal Lullaby
We will then work through a draft programme for the Mayors concert (we will draw from this list too when we sing at Bitterne URC)
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Beatles Abbey Road Medley
Believer
Dance a Cachucha
The Rose
Fix You
Shine
____
Let’s Dance Medley
Let the River Run
Something Inside So Strong
The Bare Necessities
Go the Distance
Why We Sing
Celebration (I will teach an easier alternative for bars 48-51 so hold of practising this bit!)
Have a good week and see you on Thursday.
Chris
We have Local Vocals on Wednesday ay Rosewood Care Home, Swift Road, Woolston, at 1.45 for 2.00 start. 
If you are able to attend the three “Outside” concerts – Bitterne URC, 23rd April, Mayor’s Charity Concert, 9th May, and John Lewis, 16th May, can please put your names down on the sheets that will be placed on the table inside the door, on Thursday.
Just to remind you that we are looking at suggestions for the Christmas programme, and we will be holding a Music Committee meeting on the 12th May to decide what we will be singing next term.
Well, that’s all for now, so I will either see you at the dinner on Saturday, Local Vocals on Wednesday, or at rehearsal on Thursday.
Bye for now.
Eric

Mayor’s Charity Concert

Lins Emails
HI there,
Due to number that are singing tomorrow, we have had to adjust the seating arrangements, so I enclose a copy so that you can see where you will be seated tomorrow afternoon.
Can you make sure that you arrive ready to start our sound check for 1.30 as we do not have a lot of time before the audience will be let in at 2.00pm.
Regards
Eric

Chairman’s Newsletter

Lins Emails

Good afternoon to you all and I hope you are enjoying this Bank Holiday Weekend.
Firstly, here is a message from Chris regarding our rehearsal on Thursday:- 
Hi everyone,
Can I say again I was so pleased with the sound and quality of our singing in our last rehearsal (and also that we got through “Celebration” by memory!)  
The biggest improvement we can make now is through repetition so we feel more familiar with the music and  can LOOK UP and SING OUT and most importantly WATCH ME for all the dynamics and other cues.  
In our Thursday rehearsal we will run through the programme for the Mayor’s concert on Saturday and then spend any time at the end working on songs for our own Summer concert in 6 weeks time.  Here is the running order for the Mayors concert-
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Beatles Abbey Road Medley
Believer
SOLO – Roy Hogben – “Stars” from Les Mis
Dance a Cachucha
The Rose
Go the Distance
Shine
____
Let’s Dance Medley
Let the River Run
Something Inside So Strong
SOLO – Saffron Armstrong “The Man I Need” by Olivia Dean
The Bare Necessities (by Memory)
Fix You
Why We Sing
Celebration (by Memory)
If there is time at the end we will look at – 
Galway Girl
Let the River Run
Circle of Life

Have a good week and see you on Thursday.

Chris
Secondly, Local Vocals are at The Firs, Church Road, Park Gate, on Wednesday, at 2.00pm.
Thirdly, next Saturday we are singing at the Mayor’s Charity concert at West End Parish Council Centre, Grange Road, West End SO30 3FE.  We need to be there for 1.30 to organise the seating and a sound check as the doors will open at 2.00.  The costume is Gold Tops for the ladies and White Shirts and Black Bowties for the Men, with us all wearing Black Trousers, Black Shoes and Black Socks or Hosiery. Your music needs to be in your Black Concert Folders, in the order as above.  There is a room where we can leave our coats and bags which will be locked whilst we are singing.
Lastly, we will be looking for Solos for the Summer Spectacular, on the 11th July, so if you are interested either let Chris or me know.  Auditions will be held after our Summer concert on the 6th June.
Well, that’s all for now, so I will either see you at Local Vocals on Wednesday, or at the rehearsal on Thursday.
Bye for now.
Eric

Chairman’s Newsletter

Lins Emails
Hi there,
Here is a message from Chris regarding next week’s rehearsal:-

Hi all
All of our songs for the Mayor’s concert in just over 2 weeks time were sounding good in our last rehearsal.  In our coming rehearsal I just want to focus on the songs that we need to get a bit more confident with and then revise some other songs for our own Summer concert.  This Thursday we will be working on – 
Refine Mayor’s Concert Songs – 
Go the Distance
Let’s Dance Medley
Something Inside So Strong
The Bare Necessities (By Memory)
Fix You
Celebration (We’ll practise it twice – once with the music and once by memory!)


Revise Summer Concert Songs – 
Galway Girl
The Parting Glass
Circle of Life
Can Can
The Sound of Music Medley
All Things Bright and Beautiful
The Seal Lullaby
I’m really pleased with how we’re sounding and I hope you are still enjoying and feeling increasingly confident with our songs and ready to start performing them!
Have a good week and see you on Thursday.
Chris
Local Vocals are at Florence Court, Segensworth, next Tuesday , 1.45 for 2.00 start.
Well, that’s all for now, so I will either see you at Local Vocals on Tuesday, or at the rehearsal next Thursday.
Bye for now.
Eric

Chairman’s Newsletter

Lins Emails
Hi there,
 
Here is my email for NMM for this week.
Hi all,
Well done for getting through our entire programme for the Mayor’s concert in our last rehearsal!  It was good to see where all of our songs are currently at and where we need to keep working.  A lot is now about repetition and familiarity so we can look up more and communicate more expression and character in our songs.  As always try to find time going through the practise tracks that Jerry has done for us to help with this.
This week a group are singing on Thursday afternoon at Bitterne URC.  We will do the following songs:
1. Let the River Run
2. The Beatles Medley
3. The Rose
4. Dance a Cachucha
5. The Sound of Music Medley 
6. FIx You
7. Something Inside So Strong
8. All Things Bright and Beautiful
9. Why We Sing
10. The Bare Necessities.
In our rehearsal on Thursday evening we will run through our songs for the Mayor’s concert again, spending a bit more time on the songs in bold –
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Beatles Abbey Road Medley
Believer
Dance a Cachucha
The Rose
Go the Distance
Shine
____
Let’s Dance Medley
Let the River Run
Something Inside So Strong
The Bare Necessities
Fix You
Why We Sing
Celebration 


If there is time left at the end we will run through – Circle of Life, Can Can, The Sound of Music Medley.
Have a good week and I look forward to seeing you again on Thursday.
Chris
For the Bitterne URC, we are singing at 2.00pm, so you need to arrive in plenty of time to sort out where we are seating, and remember you need to pay for parking in the car parks in Bitterne. As per the website, the uniform is Pink tops for the ladies and White Shirts of dark Pink Bowties for the men, with both with Black Trousers and shoes.
Next Tuesday, Local Vocals are at Sunnycroft, West End, 2.15 for 2.30.
Well, that’s all for now.
Bye for now.
Eric