The Widowed Sing

No! The day is about coming together as a widowed community, building friendships and doing something joyful together. It’s not a professional choir and everyone is welcome. We will be in the incredibly capable hands of our choir leader Sophie Garner who will teach us everything we need. The day is open to complete beginners as well as anyone who has sung before, be that in a choir or just in the shower.

Many of those who have attended the two previous widow choir workshops run by Sophie told us that they were nervous and couldn’t sing. And yet every single one of them found the day joyful and empowering. This is an amazing opportunity to learn to sing alongside others who are sharing the same loss as you, and to do something for yourself.

We will learn three popular and easy to sing songs which are chosen as meaningful for those who are widowed. We will tell you the songs prior to the day and we will share the lyrics of the relevant versions with you. You will use your lyrics sheets all day, and for the performance.

Our previous widowed choir sang Lean On Me (Bill Withers); Don’t Stop (Fleetwood Mac) and Together in Electric Dreams (Phil Oakey & Giorgio Moroder). You can see videos of us singing on our Instagram and Facebook pages.

Our venue is St Paul’s Church, Hills Road, Cambridge. This is a ten minute walk from Cambridge station, which is easily accessible from London. For those driving, there are Park and Ride services to the station from all sides of the city and a multi-storey car park a few minutes’ walk from the venue. There is also some pay and display parking nearby.

Cambridge is a great city for a weekend visit, with numerous hotels and accommodation options. The lower cost hotel chains near the venue include the Travelodge Cambridge Central, 15 mins walk, and an Ibis hotel at the station.

We ask for £80 to cover our costs for the full day. For this you get tuition, coffee/tea during breaks and wine after the performance, plus a delicious 2 course supper. Lunch is not included, so we ask you to bring your own or there are a few bakeries and supermarkets just outside our venue to buy a sandwich.

Wine will be available to purchase with the meal.

Any profits we make will go to Hospice UK, the national charity for hospice and end of life care. Donations can also be made on the day. Refunds will not be given unless we have to cancel. Please see our booking conditions when you book.

Yes please! We want to make this a national event to celebrate widows and widowers everywhere. Cambridge is a great city to visit and easy to get to. There are direct trains from London and Birmingham and other cities, and it is only 30 minutes from Stansted airport.

There are numerous accommodation options for a weekend stay. There are low cost chain hotels and b+b’s as well as more upmarket hotels. The lower cost hotel chains near the venue include the Travelodge Cambridge Central, 15 mins walk, and an Ibis hotel at the station.

Contact us if you need any further information about hotels or transport.

There is a lot of evidence that singing is a therapeutic practice that can profoundly and positively impact our well-being. When we sing, our bodies respond by stabilising and recalibrating our nervous systems, bringing us back to a place of balance and calmness. Research has shown that singing helps regulate our emotions, releasing endorphins and helping to manage stress and anxiety.

And research also shows that singing in a group improves mental health and wellbeing. Synchronised singing creates bonds between people, and this is especially the case for those who already share such a profound loss as those who are widowed. In our experience, those singing in our widowed choirs feel a real sense of togetherness and find it more emotional and more uplifting than they expected.

The benefits of singing alongside others are physiological as well as emotional. When people sing together, they naturally synchronise their breathing patterns and their heartbeats, creating a rhythm that extends beyond the music. This synchronisation doesn't just foster a sense of unity; research shows that it also leads to neural activity being synchronised among participants. This reinforces feelings of connection and increases the therapeutic impact, promoting both mental and physical well-being.

No. The Widowed Sing is for widowed men and women - anyone whose life partner has died.

Yes, absolutely. The Widowed Sing is a day for men and women whose life partner has died, regardless of marital status or how long you were together.

Sorry, no. This day is only open to the widowed - those whose life-partner has died. This shared loss is extremely important in forging the bonds of connection and solidarity that participants in our widowed sing events feel.

We believe that the special part about the evening is being with those with whom you have spent the day singing, and who share the same experience of loss. As such we would encourage you to come to the supper on your own and spend time with the new friends you have made during the day.

However, if this will stop you coming to the Widowed Sing, please get in touch.