Rising Voices on song in Leighton-Linslade as they make their Happy Return from pandemic

With society tentatively opening up in line with the Government’s roadmap out of the pandemic, the Leighton Buzzard Observer wants to be with our readers every step of the way.

We want to hear your positive stories about how you/your family, your business, your club/society or maybe your sports team is re-emerging from the restrictions which have made the past year so challenging. See details at the end of this article for more details on getting involved. Here, local singing group Rising Voices tells its story...

In March 2020 we were on a bit of a high from our first concert with Leighton Linslade Gala Orchestra in St Barnabas Church, then just two weeks later we were in lockdown and our weekly singing meet ups had to stop.

Singing together is such a boost to your wellbeing, your physical and mental health, that we immediately felt quite bereft. So after a busy week of researching options (we hadn’t even heard of Zoom back then!) we started our ‘virtual’ singing meet ups every week.

It was so lovely just to see the faces of our singers on screen, we could step away from the stresses of the pandemic and take some time to relax, have fun and stay connected.

The experience was very different, as due to time lags from the technology we couldn’t listen to each other singing all together, so we had to adapt. We learned new songs, sang old favourites, we had lots of “singalonga” nights, even some fancy dress!

Through the magic of video editing, we could at last hear all our voices together in our special video for the Leighton Linslade virtual Christmas lights switch on. See https://youtu.be/IizjHxCvsjkLast month, again after lots of research and risk assessment writing, we were able to have our first meet up in person at last. We met outdoors and simultaneously online, in the beautiful and Covid-secure grounds of Leighton Middle School. We narrowly missed a thunderstorm but the clouds parted just in time.

Member Sue Wilkins said: “I’ve been singing with Rising Voices for a couple of years and we were really getting into our stride when the pandemic hit. It took a while to get used to singing online but the weekly sessions really lifted my spirits. I’m so excited to be back singing together with this relaxed and friendly bunch!”

If you’d like to join them to sing without stress - no auditions, no sheet music - online or outside for now, contact Victoria on the Facebook page @risingvoiceslinslade> Why not get involved in the Leighton Buzzard Observer’s Happy Returns feature? We’d be delighted to hear details of how businesses and the community are emerging from the restrictions of the pandemic. It might be news of a business relaunching, your youth sports team resuming its matches, how your school is coping with the ongoing challenges, how your club or society is ditching Zoom and is looking to meet face-to-face again, a family reunion or celebration which can finally go ahead, or the many other examples of events and activities we all took for granted slowly returning.

This is a great chance to tell your story over the coming weeks and months ahead. Submit 100-300 words to this newspaper on how the pandemic has had an impact, how you’ve kept going and most importantly news of your ‘Happy Return’ when it’s deemed safe.

We’d also love to receive photos of those joyful reunions/reopenings. Please send all details to [email protected]