Tesco Community Grant

We’re in the customer vote for a Tesco Community Grant. It’s a scheme which gives community projects like ours grants of up to £1,500. Tesco customers will now vote in:

• Aldershot, GU11 1SQ

• Fleet Ancells Farm, GU51 2XF

• Fleet Express, GU52 6AB

• Farnborough Cove Road, GU14 0EU

• Ridgeway Road Farnham, GU9 8NN

• Hale Farnham, GU9 0LA

• Ashvale Lysons Avenue, GU12 5QL

stores during October-December 2022 to decide how much funding we get, so please support us the next time (and every time) you shop at Tesco!

Funds from our current fundraising will go towards supporting our Senior Choir to compete at the International Choral Competition in Hull in 2023. This will be the choir’s long overdue return to competition, after their double gold medal winning appearance at the European Choir Games in Gothenburg in 2019.

Successful Cornwall Tour, August 2022

Early on Thursday 4th August, our Senior Choir assembled in Farnham ready to head west to beautiful Cornwall. This was the first real tour for the choir for three years, after our planned trip to the World Choir Games in 2020 had been COVID-cancelled. The tour bus stopped en route for the choir to sing a lunchtime concert in Exeter Cathedral, before continuing their journey to Falmouth. Singing in Exeter Cathedral was the first real experience of singing in a large venue for those of our singers who joined the choir after 2019, and it was certainly memorable for performers and audience alike.

The choir’s first Cornwall concert was on St Michael’s Mount on Friday. After some splashing about on the beach at Marazion, the singers climbed up the Mount to the chapel that crowns it. It was a very warm day and views from St Michael’s Mount were stunning. Somehow, all the stars aligned and the choir not only sang beautifully in the chapel, but their performance was live-streamed across the world. Our first live-stream! Our audience stretched from Farnham to Florida.

Saturday began with shopping and a picnic lunch in Falmouth, followed by ice cream and a busking concert in aid of the local RNLI.

There was more beach time on Sunday, followed by a magical joint workshop and concert with Cornwall County Choirs. We are so grateful to Angela Renshaw and her team for assembling 30 or so of their singers and for teaching ‘Cornwall My Home’ to our singers. Mylor church was such a welcoming venue and we were delighted that it was packed to the rafters for the evening concert.

Monday was a marathon singing day, as the choir busked around the far west of Cornwall. They started at the Minack Theatre, moved on to Land’s End and finished the day at Sennen Cove. Many of our Monday audiences weren’t expecting to hear a choir while sightseeing, but we definitely made some new fans along the way.

Tuesday was going home day and we bid a fond farewell to Falmouth. Again, we broke our journey by stopping off on the way, this time at Lyme Regis, where the choir sang ‘Sea Shores’ to the newly unveiled statue of Mary Anning. ‘Sea Shores’ is part of the ‘Herstory’ song cycle that we commissioned this year from our composer in residence, Russell Hepplewhite and librettist, Helen Eastman.

Our whole tour was made possible by the kindness and welcoming generosity of our various hosts: Exeter Cathedral, St Michael’s Mount, Falmouth RNLI, Mylor Church and Kay Deeming, Angela Renshaw and Cornwall County Choirs, the Minack Theatre, Land’s End and The Beach Bar, Sennen Cove and we extend our thanks to each of them. It was great to meet you all and none of us will forget our trip to Cornwall in 2022.

Inaugural FYC Singing Spree

After many weeks of planning, the inaugural FYC Singing Spree took place on Tuesday 28th June 2022 at the Farnham Maltings. 120 year two schoolchildren from Farnham were treated to performances by FYC’s Senior, Junior and Training Choirs and they also enjoyed participating in singing workshops with all three of FYC’s music team: Patrick Barrett, Margaret O’Shea and Claire Robins. The event ended with a roof-raising performance of Comet Crazy, a new song commissioned by FYC from Helen Eastman and Russell Hepplewhite. The song is all about pioneering astronomer, Caroline Herschel and is intended for young voices.

School workshops a roaring success

Since the autumn term, our Training Choir conductor, Claire Robins, has been visiting local primary schools and conducting workshops. The children have been singing extraordinary songs, having fun and learning about some key musical concepts, including pitch, tempo and dynamics.

By Easter 2022, Claire had delivered singing workshops to over 1000 Farnham primary school children.

Claire said, ‘it’s great to see the enthusiasm for singing and music-making among the pupils. They seem to have really missed the opportunity to make music over the last couple of years when these activities weren’t possible.’

Bright future for the Training Choir

During the pandemic, our Year 3 and 4 children found it difficult to rehearse online. After a break, they are back again! With the opportunity to rebuild came an opportunity to recruit in a different way: conductor Claire Robins is taking FYC’s musical approach into the community with a programme of workshops for local schools. We couldn’t do any of this without the generous funding we’ve received from the D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust. This support is helping us in so many ways, and will mean that we can make a proportion of Training Choir places available to children whose financial circumstances would make it difficult to pay a subscription.

Anyone who knows of a school which would welcome one of our workshops for this age group is warmly invited to contact Liz at info@fyc.org.uk.

The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2021

From 30th November, for seven days, FYC will be running a campaign to raise funds for a bursary scheme we’d like to develop, so that children who’d like to join/remain in FYC can do so even if their financial circumstances make it difficult.

FYC applied to take part in this year’s Christmas Challenge and not only were we accepted, but we’ve also received a pledge of £2500 from one key supporter, with which to kick-start our campaign and additional backing from the Lakehouse Charitable Foundation. This means that if we can raise £5000 for our bursary scheme ourselves, this will be matched by a further £5000 - so a £10,000 total.

Our campaign goes live on 30th November, so to receive a reminder (so you can donate!) follow this link.