The Choir with No Name runs choirs and builds joyful singing communities with homeless and marginalised people, around the UK. Currently, there are six choirs: in Birmingham, Liverpool, London, Coventry, Brighton (run in partnership with Brighton Housing Trust) and Cardiff (run in partnership with The Wallich).
How it works...
We were founded on the premise that singing makes you feel good; it distracts you from all the nonsense in life and helps you to build confidence, skills and genuine, long lasting friendships. Our choir members are people who have experienced homelessness, or who are simply going through a tough time in their lives. We aim to help members to build their confidence and skills, and make genuine life long friendships, so that they are in a better position to tackle the other challenges in their lives, and move away from homelessness in the long-term.
What we do...
What we do is simple: our choirs meet once a week for a cuppa and a catch up, we then sing our hearts out for an hour and half, and sit down together afterwards for a hot meal cooked by volunteers. We perform regularly at a whole load of different places, from local homeless hostels to the Royal Festival Hall and everywhere in between. Our choirs are a supportive, safe space for people going through a tough time to be among friends, where they can experience the joy of singing together, have fun, build confidence and skills, and feel more able to tackle life's other challenges, such as securing housing or finding work.
We also deliver community projects for people at risk of homelessness in each of the cities where we work, motivated by a desire to share the joy of singing with as many isolated and marginalised people as possible (and hopefully recruit a few more choir members along the way!).
“I’m so happy to have found CWNN. Going to that first session I was so nervous, but by the time I got to that second session I was singing my heart out. It’s made such a difference to me. I’m not existing anymore, I’m living, and that’s huge”
Richard, Cardiff choir
We sing all kinds of well known, accessible pop music - you can find out more about our artistic vision here.
We aim to...
- have a brilliant time at rehearsals
- give performances that leave the audience gagging for more
- support each other in our dreams and ambitions, musical or otherwise
If you want to find out more about us and keep up to date with our news, gigs, campaigns and opportunities to get involved, you can sign up to our newsletter.