History
Sing Your Heart Out (SYHO) grew out of a remarkable blend of history, music and shared joy. From its beginnings in the old Norfolk Mental Hospital in 1862 to the lively, welcoming singing workshops across Norfolk today, the heart of SYHO has always been the pleasure of singing together and feeling uplifted.
1862: Music from St Andrew's Hospital
Our story starts long ago, in 1862, when the medical Superintendent of the Norfolk Mental Hospital (the old St Andrew's Hospital in Thorpe, Norwich) formed an orchestra of staff and patients. They played regularly, often with specially scored music, until about 1930.
1988: Rediscovering the Music
In 1988, St Andrew's Hospital was being closed down. Among the things found in the clear-out was a pile of the same music used by the orchestra. Local theatrical lighting engineer Jim Lawes felt this was too important just to dump, so it found its way into the hands of David Juritz, lead violinist of the London Mozart Players.
2004: The Asylum Band and a New Beginning
By 2004, David had formed a part-time “Asylum Band” playing some of the specially scored pieces. Dr Steve Cherry, a lecturer at the University of East Anglia with a particular expertise in the history of health and medicine, had written a history of the Norfolk Asylum and learned about the music. Through him, David Juritz found his way to Maggie Wheeler, Chair of the local NHS mental health trust, the successor to that old asylum. Maggie told the story to her colleagues and challenged them to form a Tribute Band. The challenge was taken up by psychotherapist Tracy Morefield – herself a keen singer who believed that being involved with making music has a very direct therapeutic benefit. And so began Sing Your Heart Out.
2005: The First Workshops
In 2005, SYHO really started to get going. Weekly sessions were held at Hellesdon Hospital, led by choir leader and singing tutor Chrissy Parsons West. Already we were hearing about successes – former SYHO members joining community choirs and starting to talk about how singing improved their self-confidence and sense of wellbeing. SYHO attracted the interest of the local press, and the Department of Health invited SYHO to be part of a study on the benefits of the arts for health.
2006: Growing Popularity and First Award
In 2006, Penny Holden became involved. The workshops gained in popularity. Money was tight, but more and more people had heard about the project. The local press were supportive and interested, and the BBC made a Radio 4 programme 'The Asylum Band', featuring Sing Your Heart Out and the London Mozart Players. SYHO at last met David Juritz! At the end of the year, SYHO won its first award – £5,000. By now, SYHO was clear what it wanted to be: inclusive (no one needs to identify as a service user or carer, or declare any diagnosis), workshop-based (sessions you can dip in and out of as you feel), increasingly led by mental health service users, and above all . . . FUN.
St Andrew's Hospital -
Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich
David Juritz - Winner of the Tagore Gold Medal of the Royal College of Music
UEA - University of East Anglia
2007: Making a Splash at the Festival
In 2007, SYHO really got on the map. Conversations had been going on with the Norfolk & Norwich Festival, who commissioned both SYHO and the London Mozart Players to perform. Workshops turned into rehearsals, as SYHO stayed true to its roots of inclusion and openness, while putting together a performance for a prestigious event. Members of one of Chrissy’s choirs, Hearts and Voices, joined SYHO for the festival programme. Composer Fraser Trainer worked with SYHO on a special piece. Amid nervousness, SYHO met and rehearsed with the London Mozart Players for the first time – on the day of performance! The concert went down a storm and was well reviewed. Families and friends were proud and amazed by the beautiful music SYHO made. It was huge fun, but helped clarify that SYHO’s heart was workshops, not performances, as not everyone wanted the stress of a public event. That year, Tracy Morefield was invited to Downing Street; SYHO sang in public with Rick Wakeman; the BBC commissioned a short TV programme; and SYHO began being invited to conferences.
2008: A Community Base and Wider Exposure
By 2008, SYHO was ready to take flight. It had always met at Hellesdon Hospital, but now a grant from the Norfolk Community Foundation meant there was money to rent premises in the community, so SYHO moved to the Phoenix Centre in Norwich. By then SYHO had attended conferences in Folkestone, been in the Evening News, on the Jeremy Vine Show on Radio 2, and in The Independent Nurse.
2009: Bringing West Norfolk into the Fold
2009 saw us extending our boundaries. A second SYHO group started in King’s Lynn. Our first “Big Sing” happened in Fakenham, attracting SYHO regulars from West Norfolk and Norwich, as well as many more local people – the church hall overflowed with song and laughter. SYHO also presented at the mental health trust’s AGM, where over 300 people (including the trust’s directors and governors) found themselves joining in the singing.
2010: SYHO South Begins
2010 was the year SYHO South started. The third group made us realise we needed each group to be consistent, but also independent, able to access local funds. A large social care conference saw the director of social services joining in the singing. We knew we were on to something – we could get anyone to sing!
2011: Getting Organised
In 2011, SYHO went from strength to strength. We sorted out things like committees, and policies and financial procedures – boring, but necessary to prove we were keeping people and their money safe.
2012: Welcoming the East and Royal Recognition
In 2012, we had long set our sights on Great Yarmouth, and this year it happened. SYHO East emerged, and we held one of our annual “Big Sings” there – bringing all the SYHO groups together for tea, cake and singing. SYHO West Norfolk won a West Norfolk Equal Opportunity Award for demonstrating innovation, imagination and commitment in ensuring equality of opportunity for people with disabilities. This was also the year we were awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service – the ultimate accolade for a voluntary group and the equivalent of getting an MBE! SYHO members were also invited to the Sandringham Royal Garden Party.
2014: Celebrating 10 Years in Style
2014, and suddenly we were getting ready to celebrate our 10th birthday in style with a really Big Sing at Hellesdon Hospital, where it all began. Over 100 members from across the county sang their hearts out, joined by funders and supporters – among them the Mayor of King’s Lynn, the Sheriff of Norwich, the Chairman of Broadland District Council and the Vice Chairman of Norfolk County Council.
2017: SYHO North is Born
In 2017, we finally succeeded in starting a group in the north of the county, in Sheringham. We had tried before but hadn’t found the right spot. A grant let us run taster sessions in a number of places and Sheringham came out top. So now we had SYHO in the north, south, east, west and centre of Norfolk!
Over the years, SYHO had been on the radio, TV and in the press; spoken at national conferences; won awards; met the Prime Minister; and sung at all sorts of events that promoted the value of singing for mental wellbeing. We had taken our workshops into community venues and had help from organisations like the Rotary Club, Goldsmiths, the John Jarrold Trust and the Theatre Royal.
2018 – 2019: Back to the Festival and Becoming a Charity
In 2018, SYHO went back to the Norfolk & Norwich Festival, leading a session in the Spiegeltent at Chapelfield Gardens with the Lord Mayor of Norwich in the audience.
This was also the year we began the process of becoming a charity. With encouragement from the Norfolk Community Foundation, we set up a committee for local groups and appointed trustees from across the county. We reviewed and added to our policies, tightened up our governance, streamlined our finances and brought in an accountant.
In September 2019, we became a registered charity.
2020 – 2022: Singing Through the Pandemic
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic meant group singing indoors was one of the first things to stop and one of the last to start again. Many of our singers are vulnerable, so we knew how important it was to keep people connected. We began by sharing songs online and soon moved to live sessions on Zoom. At the peak, around 60 people were joining in, singing along from their homes.
By late 2021, we cautiously returned to face-to-face sessions, keeping numbers small and socially distanced, and sometimes meeting outdoors. We had to go back online briefly when COVID numbers rose again, but by February 2022 we were back in full swing.