There is something about singing that elevates mood and brightens even the greyest of mornings. It doesn’t really matter whether you have the voice of a nightingale or the all the tonal harmony of an injured animal, it is the action of belting out your favourite number accompanied by a room full of friends that triggers those happy hormones and raises the spirit.

Of course, mood is also dictated by the song choice, our favourites are songs from our era, songs that transport back in time to school days, family get togethers and holidays. Songs that awaken treasured memories have the ability to fire up the senses and instil feelings of joy. We enjoy a blast of the songs from the war days, they don’t, as some may assume, conjure up feelings of gloom, quite the opposite, they remind us that good will always triumph and that hope lives in all of us.

We sing a lot here at Layston Grove, it is one of our favourite pastimes, we have time designated on the activities schedule to get together and sing however, we also have time set aside for other activities such as knitting and crafting that more often than not transmute into an impromptu singing session, accompanied by a verse or two of “We’ll Meet Again”. We can’t help ourselves.

Family singalongs are very much a thing of the past, the television has replaced the piano as the main feature of every living room and children have far more to do with their spare time than we ever did but I think that families today are missing out. Singing unites us, it brings joy regardless of talent and better still it’s free, all you require is the music, the words and very understanding neighbours.