New choir hopes to give town’s homeless a voice

A project to bring homeless people together to form a choir has been given council backing. The idea for the musical group in Maidstone has been put forward by Kent Arts and Wellbeing (KAW) as part of a £500,000 drive to improve lives through creative endeavours across the county.

Based on a successful model run in big cities by charity The Choir With No Name, it would be targeted at people living “chaotic lifestyles”.

There are also plans to introduce a similar scheme for people living with dementia.

Ken Scott, from KAW, said: “The idea for both of those is that we would actually be using singing as an approach to help improve wellbeing.

“The idea is that at the same time as you have a choir you create a temporary café, so you are cooking with fresh ingredients a hot meal for people and trying to give the message that they matter, that they count.

“It’s not just ‘come along and sing’, we are prepared to take the trouble of creating a nice environment, creating a hot meal for you. The model is based on those individuals, once the choir is established, helping to be self-sufficient by then running concerts and managing the choir themselves.”

The project would be part of a countywide initiative which KAW is seeking funding of £500,000 to get off the ground, with other arts-based schemes proposed for Canterbury, Gravesend and Medway.

It is envisaged £100,000 would be spent on the Maidstone choir over four years.

Maidstone Borough Council’s economic regeneration and leisure committee voted unanimously to support the idea. Although the authority is not providing financial support for the choir, it would play a role in identifying those individuals and areas which could most benefit from being involved in it should funding - expected to come from National Lottery grants - be secured.