Tuning up – sort of – for Radio 1 gig
Maidenhead: Tuneless choir features on Christmas Day show
Maidenhead’s Tuneless Choir provided a soundtrack for the nation on Christmas Day as they featured on a show hosted by BBC Radio 1 DJ, Greg James.
Greg and co-host Roisin Hastie spent the show fulfilling some of the ‘rogue promises’ the breakfast DJ had made throughout the year, including to sing with a tuneless choir.
Tabitha Beaven, founder of the community choir, took to the airwaves to play a recording of the group’s rendition of Ding Dong Merrily On High.
She urged Greg to ‘have as much fun as you can with your Glorias’ and he did not disappoint as he delivered an earsplitting performance of the
song’s challenging chorus.
The choir also recorded a jingle of one Greg’s favourite catch phrases ‘Are you well? I thought you were!’ which was famously coined by racing presenter Derek Thompson.
Tabitha said: “As our demographic are more likely to be Radio 2 listeners we had no idea why the words would be funny but we went along with it anyway.”
The Tuneless Choir recently smashed its target to raise £10,000 for Buckinghamshire Mind, the mental health support charity.
The group has been running since 2016 with the aim of providing a space for people who love singing but perhaps lack the ability, practice or confidence to sing in tune.
Tabitha added: “We know from experience that singing is a brilliant way to support both physical and mental health.
“Many of our members really value the mood boost they get and know how important it is for us all to look after our minds as well as our bodies, which is why I think our efforts to fundraise have been so well supported”.
To comply with government guidance, 2021 saw the choir singing ‘together’ on Zoom from January until June, having outdoor summer sessions in a local pub garden and back to their ‘home’ venue of the United Reformed Church
in September.
Choir members raised £668 through a variety of channels taking the overall total raised since 2018 to £10,190. They filled smartie tubes with 20ps, sold sour dough bread, donated online choir places
and shook buckets for collections whilst singing at local Christmas Markets.
The group meets every Wednesday from 8pm to 9.15pm.
Email maidenhead@tune lesschoir.com for more information.