Sing with Us choir FAQs

Sing with Us is a unique network of community choirs for people affected by cancer.

Singing is incredibly important to Tenovus Cancer Care. It unites people, improves wellbeing and makes you happier. Our Sing with Us choirs are fun, uplifting and friendly, and are open to anyone affected by cancer. We have choirs all across Wales and some in England too, meeting weekly for support, friendship and music!

Anyone affected by cancer can join a Sing with Us choir, so if you’ve ever had a diagnosis of cancer or cared for someone who has, or if you have lost a loved one, then our choirs may be just the thing for you.

If you think you might be interested in singing with us, please register your interest either via this form, or by calling our free Support Line on 0808 808 1010.

A member of the Sing with Us Team will then get in touch by email or phone, whichever you prefer, to have a chat to you about the choir and let you know how it all works. We’ll then invite you to join us at one of our rehearsals, so you can have a go and see for yourself what it’s like to be in a Sing with Us choir.

Our first ever choir was actually our staff choir, which was set up as a team building activity; we all loved it and we thought it would be a great thing to do for cancer patients and their families. We were also particularly interested in the beneficial effects we believed singing might have on patients, so we set up our first choir for patients and carers as a research study to measure the benefits of singing. The results of that study were so positive that in 2011 we applied for Lottery funding to set up more choirs, and the rest is history.

We currently have 16 choirs in Wales, in Abergavenny, Aberystwyth, Bangor, Barry, Bridgend, Cardiff North and South, Carmarthen, Cwmbran, Llandudno, Llanelli, Llanidloes, Merthyr, Pontypridd, Swansea, Wrexham. Plus we have our virtual choir for anyone to join from across the world who can’t get to our face to face sessions!

At the moment, we don’t plan to launch any more choirs, but we’re open to expanding into new areas of Wales in the future, if and when funding becomes available. For more information, please contact the Sing with Us team on 0808 808 1010 or sing@tenovuscancercare.org.uk.

The Sing with Us choirs are free to join, but rely entirely on donations. We really want to make sure we can keep this important service running, so any donations or fundraising members are able to help with is hugely appreciated.

Fundraising is actually a really fun part of being a Sing with Us choir. We fundraise at gigs, and members organise their own events like coffee mornings, bake sales and dinners. Sometimes they even take on challenges like runs or treks. If you're interested in how you can help fundraise to keep your choir running, have a chat to a member of the Sing with Us team.

Our lovely welcome desk volunteers will meet you on arrival and get you registered. Your Choir Leader will also say hello and find you somewhere to sit that’s comfortable for you. We’ll give you a lyric sheet to follow (we don’t use musical scores) and the Choir Leader will teach all the music by ear at a pace that suits everyone.

It’s important to us that all our services, including Sing with Us, provide proven support to people affected by cancer.  Since 2010 we’ve completed a number of research studies with Cardiff University and the Royal College of Music to find out more about how singing can help people. The results have been incredible, indicating that on both a psychological and a physical level. Find out about our 'More than Singing' research.

All the choirs are very popular and get asked to perform regularly in their local communities. We also organise our own concerts, so there is plenty of opportunity to perform if you wish to. The Sing with Us Team will let you know about upcoming performances and you can choose to be involved in as many as you like; there is no pressure to perform if you do not want to. Concerts are always lots of fun though so we hope that you will join in often.

Between 2012 and 2015 the Sing with Us choirs in Wales were supported by a £1 million grant from The Big Lottery AdvantAGE fund. Now that funding has ended we rely on the generosity of our supporters, including individuals, communities and businesses, to keep our choirs going.

If you’d like to make a donation to help keep us singing, please visit our donation pages. If you work for a business and think you might like to sponsor a choir, please call 029 2076 8850.

Whilst we are not claiming that singing can cure cancer, our research has shown that singing in our choirs makes people feel happier, less isolated and can help reduce levels of anxiety and depression.

A diagnosis of cancer can create a range of practical and emotional issues and these choirs are just one way that we support cancer patients and their loved ones. You can find out more about our other services here.

To book a choir, click here or please contact gigs@tenovuscancer.org.uk or call us on 0808 808 1010 and one of the Sing with Us team will ring you back as soon as possible.

Yes! You could sponsor your local choir or several choirs in your region. Our choirs are made up entirely of people affected by cancer and have between 40 - 100 members. Speak to our Fundraising Team to find out more by calling 029 2076 8863.