By Pauline Bezzina
April 13 2020, 11.25
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A choir leader from Twickenham who helped raise £10,000 for charity over four years is starting a new Youtube channel for children
Pianist and vocalist Carl Speck, 37, is the man behind the magic.
For the past 5 years, he has been part of the Dover House Singers Choir in Putney and also launched the Pub Choir and Good Morning Choir scheme.
He said: “They say it’s like a form of therapy, it makes you feel good and you’re surrounded by people singing and takes away from the stresses and strains of life.”
As of next week, Mr Speck will launch his Youtube channel: “Now I Can Sing” which will focus on singing lessons for children.
Mr Speck who works at Heathfield Schools’ Partnership in Whitton also had requests from his students to do some online singing.
“The YouTube sing-alongs are aimed at children but anyone can get involved.
“I have visions of whole households singing along,” Mr Speck added.
Thanks to the Good Morning Choirs concerts and events, Mr Speck and his team were able to raise over £10,000 pounds for a charity called Regenerate Rise which supports isolated elderly people.
Mr Speck explained the choir chose this charity because there was a chance to interact with isolated elderly folks being able to come to concerts.
He added: “The choir decided last year to support the charity for another three years, so we are hoping to bring the total raised to over £20,000 by then!”
On March 16, Mr Speck was meant to have a Pub Choir at the Angler’s in Teddington, but at 5pm Boris Johnson announced the lockdown.
He said: “I had to decide then to cancel my pub choir that evening.
“I said to myself: ‘When I get home I could do a live Facebook thing and people could just sing along at home.’”
Mr Speck usually has 30 to 40 people turn up during his sessions and taking them online is another way to share a moment together.
He added: “That’s a large part of my life.
“I’ve been taking it online, to get people singing at home.”
Rehearsals with the Dover House Singers, the Pub Choirs and the Good morning Choirs are now all online and cruising.
From Zoom rehearsals to Facebook live sing-along from his living room, Mr Speck was able to gather more and more people each session.
He said: “Some people live alone and others can’t get out either because of their age or illness.
“To see all those people on the Zoom call and waving at each other is really nice.”
The former primary school teacher explained he has seen a rising tide of solidarity in the community.
He said: “We have that one person in the choir who is setting up a sort of local neighbourhood support group.
“That’s a really good thing that’s come out of it.”
Mr Speck said the choirs attract people of all ages, from 25 up to 85.
He added: “For the Pub Choir and the Good morning Choir we get families coming in, sometimes they bring their younger kids, teenage kids.
“I try and select the appropriate music for that.”
