What’s Happening
Parsons Green Choir in Isolation
Geraldine, Fulham resident and choir member, got in touch with Urban Village LDN to tell us how Fulham Camerata has coped with isolation. We thought it was a lovely story to share with our readers.
At the start of March all members of Fulham Camerata were charging ahead in preparation for their forthcoming Spring concert on 21st March, a beautiful one too, with Mealor’s Stabat Mater and a selection of Vaughan Williams pieces. On 12th March we began to have our grave doubts; would anybody come? On the 14th March we sadly cancelled our long awaited Parsons Green event, just short of the lockdown.
Fulham Camerata is an amateur chamber choir, supported by an ensemble of semi professionals, spanning all age groups and various nationalities, led by our young, talented and whizzy music director, Harry Castle. Our customary three concerts in the year plus our Christmas concert, all in local churches, now seemed a distant happy memory that Covid 19 had placed firmly beyond our reach.
What were we to do? As Judith Nugée, the choir chair reflected, it’s not only about the immensely enjoyable singing to the Fulham community but also about the strong community within Fulham Camerata itself, all of us longstanding believers in our slogan that ‘the joy of singing is what binds us together’. A short while into the lockdown the idea was mooted to try out a choir rehearsal on Zoom and to see how we got on. Our expectations about what could be achieved, musically, as a remote choir, were generally quite low but we persisted and a few interesting things have begun to emerge. Because of technical time delay difficulties when as a choir, you sing a piece of music online you mainly just hear yourself and this brings a new perspective. You can’t ‘hide’ in the crowd as you do in a normal rehearsal and you are immediately aware of wrong notes and shortcomings and where you need to put in some more hard work. So now a new angle, an added positive which helps us work in a different way, has emerged from the lockdown.
Of course nothing can compare to the buzz and the camaraderie of real weekly rehearsals and the joy of the communal singing that sweeps you up with it. Meanwhile it is fun to see everybody, even in a little square on your screen, and I think we all feel that something precious has been kept alive.
Watch this space for our comeback!
Emoji It Now
We wrote about this new app founded by local resident Ben Phillis and think it’s a great way to provide feedback and support local businesses; especially as doors reopen and they try to get back on their feet.
Although the timing to launch an app isn’t great Emoji It Now have officially launched and are pushing ahead. They are currently running a £250 prize draw which is open to anyone and is easy to enter. All you need to do is download the app and give feedback on a local business. That’s it you’re automatically entered into the competition.
There is some great additional support for local businesses and services too. If you repost the competition on Instagram (tagging @emojiitnow) you will get a bespoke set of reasons for free for a year (ie service, product range etc) and Ben will enable you to see all the data on you business, send in app messages to people who feedback on them with any offers they’d like to make. A great way to engage with customers? Local business owners DM Ben on Instagram if you have any questions. Readers check out the app and Good Luck if you enter the competition.
Ray’s Playhouse hits Space Hive target
Another lock down lift! Despite all that’s been going on in the world the Make Ray’s Playhouse Shine Again campaign on Space Hive has been a success. Donations reached the £55,000 target after a £10,000 pledge from Woodfords Solictiors/Bender family trust which means thanks to local community donations they can now access the Lord Mayors Community Fund and the LBHF CIL Fund to which they’ve applied.
After being threatened with closure In September 2019, due to lack of funds to replace and renew the core infrastructure of their building, we’re delighted that this treasured local asset is on track to get a much needed and extensive upgrade after 30 years of being a lifeline for local families.
Ray’s Playhouse Limited is a registered charity in England and Wales 1142275.
Park life - have your say
The council have asked the resident led H&F Parks commission to canvas park users and residents to find out what they want to see for the future of parks and open spaces in the borough. A new strategy will then be drawn up with the aim of helping residents and visitors benefit more from our local parks and open spaces. Have your say by submitging your thoughts, views and proposals by Monday 7th June to the following email address: peter.smith@lbhf.gov.uk or click on the link below to tell the commission how you think the council can improve our open spaces by answering questions such as - which parks and open spaces do you use regularly, how do you use these spaces, and what is the best way to involve local people in the decision making.