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In the 3 years I've been with Wollaton Ladies I feel my confidence in singing has progressed immeasurably.

Our director, Sophie, has the ability to get the best out of all of us with her amazing amount of energy, her good humour, constant encouragement. and occasional exasperation!

Even though I don't know everyone's name - sorry Jane, I'll wear my name badge next term! - you can chat to anyone. We're a great team and I'm so pleased Julie's husband told my husband about the choir! Every Tuesday I come home elated after choir practice and look forward to the next session.

At first, I was apprehensive about joining, having never sung in a choir before, and not reading music. But I was given great encouragement by other members, and now thoroughly enjoy our weekly rehearsals.

We are so lucky to have Sophie, our musical director, and our accompanist. They make a great team, and Sophie always manages to get us concert-ready while still keeping rehearsals light-hearted.

After a bad experience with music at school - learning the violin with a teacher I called 'the Dragon' - I have never been able to get my head around keys and musical notation, so finding a choir where being able to read music is not vital, was fantastic. I still wouldn't say I could read music but know when to go up or down! I love the singing and the group and, what people say about music and choral singing being good for the soul, is spot on!

I sang in school and at university but for some reason didn't really think about joining a choir afterwards until I went to a 'Sing for Joy' workshop run by the Women's Institute and remembered how much I just enjoyed singing. I discovered the Wollaton Singers and found a wonderful group of like-minded ladies who love to sing. Even in the run up to a concert, singing is a great way to relax after a busy day at work.

I have always loved singing. As a young child my grandmother would play the piano and I would sing along to 'Down at the Old Bull and Bush'! My father had a good voice and we would sing Perry Como songs, Gilbert & Sullivan and My Fair Lady to the record. I failed the school choir audition which was a disappointment to me, and apart from a brief spell in a works choir, I hadn't done anything until joining the Wollaton Singers in 2016. There was no audition, and they made me feel most welcome. I love the variety of music, and Sophie somehow gets the best out of us, with a laugh and a giggle!

I joined Wollaton Ladies Choir, as it was then in, in October 2003. When I was at a Girl Guide singing event, Rita Chambers had asked me whether I had ever thought about joining a choir because she knew of a good one. My diary entry for the evening I first went says 'very difficult music but I think I might manage'. Following my appointment as County President for Girlguiding Nottinghamshire, I had a short break but was really happy to be able to resume my regular weekly singing. After all these years I find that I can manage!

Sophie makes rehearsals fun, and we always end up with a rousing song we know well, and I end up singing it (in my head at least) for the next few days. She certainly challenges us to sing some very demanding pieces, and that develops our skills enormously.

I was persuaded to join Wollaton Ladies Choir when I sang at Nottingham Hospital Choir which was conducted by Jean Shaw, who also conducted at Wollaton. There was only room in the altos so I became an alto. Then I moved to the 2nd sopranos when they were short and now I've moved to the 1st sopranos.

I hadn't sung in a choir since I was at school over 30 years before, but I was always singing and made it a New Year's resolution to join a choir. I found The Wollaton Singers in January 2010 through a random search of the internet and haven't looked back since!

Being part of this choir is truly joyful! Everyone has always been so friendly and welcoming. We sing such a terrific range of music, and they way we are taught and rehearse means it's easy to learn the songs without having to be able to read music.

I joined the Wollaton Singers 15 years ago, because they were local and I don't drive. Since then our practice venue has moved further and further away but I have always never had any trouble getting lifts because the choir members are so generous. What a great way to meet friends - a chat on the way, in the tea break in the middle and on the way home.

The singing is wonderful too!

I joined the choir as my daughter was already a member. I recently moved to Nottingham to be closer to two of my children, as I get older. It's not easy to settle in a new area, but the Wollaton Singers have been such a source of friendship I feel like I have known everyone for years. It was wonderful to have the choir singing at my daughter's wedding. I was born the year this choir started so it and I are exactly the same age. I hope the choir carries on long after I stop singing!

I joined the choir in January 2016. I'd mentioned to a colleague that I had missed being part of a choir in the 4 years I had been living in Nottingham. I went to the 2015 Christmas concert and got talking and decided they were a brilliant bunch of people. Some of the Wollaton Singers recently sang at my wedding. They were absolutely superb. They sounded so good our guests are still talking about the how amazing it was.

At a very stressful time in my life singing was a Godsend!