Blue Light Choir
"We are not a "professional" choir, we are just a group of ordinary people from across the Emergency Services who decided to get together each week because we know singing made us feel better and was a good way to unwind from some of the stresses and emotional baggage of our day to day jobs.
We ended up having a good laugh (often at ourselves), eating lots of cake, responding to requests to sing at various events, and over weeks and months colleagues became friends!
We sing for ourselves but we also sing to raise awareness, within the Emergency Services and the general public, of the need to take mental health seriously and the importance of looking after our own mental wellbeing. But, mostly because it is fun!
Whilst we do not charge a fee for performances, we are self-funded and any donations would be gratefully received".
Fiona Usher - Alto and TWFRS Chaplain
What we do
The choir is available to sing at events and we do not charge, but ask for a small donation if appropriate.
We have worked with some amazing charities including Royal British Legion, The Soldiers Charity, Mind, Salvation Army, Fighting All Cancers Together (FACT), North East Charity Awards and National Emergency Services Memorial.
Who we are
We are all employees of emergency service and key workers from across the North East who enjoying singing to maintain positivity, mental health and wellbeing. We currently have around 45 members from fire, police, ambulance, NHS, British Army, HM Prison Service and our fabulous Key Workers.We started our journey in August 2016 with "Fire Choir" and joined with other emergency services in May 2017 to become the Blue Light Choir as we are known today.We know this year has been difficult for all our front line workers and we always welcome new members. You don't need any experience however you must love singing, tea and cakes!We practice every Thursday, please email if you would like to know more.
Our song book (so far!)
Abide With Me
Africa
Amazing Grace
At the End of the Day (Les Misérables)
Brothers in Arms
Count on Me
Everybody Hurts
From Now On (Greatest Showman)
Greatest Showman medley
Hallelujah
Here Comes the Sun
Hold Back the River
I'm Still Standing
Jerusalem
Keep Believing (original)
Lean on Me
Les Miserables medley
Lifting Me Higher
Lion Sleeps Tonight
Million Dreams (Greatest Showman)
Ode to the Newborne (original)
One Call Away
Proud
Put a Little Love
Seasons of Love
Sound of Silence
Thinking out Loud
This Is Me (Greatest Showman)
To Where We Are
True Colours
Twist and Shout
War Melody Mix
We’ll Meet Again
You'll Never Walk Alone
4 ChordsChristmas Collection
Away in a Manger
Carol Of The Bells
Ding Dong Merrily on High
Do They Know its Christmas
Fairytale of New York
First Noel
Hark the Herald
Joy to the World
O Come, All Ye Faithful
O Holy Night
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Silent Night
Starry Night
Rocking Around the Christmas Tree
Twelve Days of Christmas
Winter Wonderland
Performances to date
Preview our work
Together Forever memorial event, Customs House, South Shields
Blue Light Services Presents, Sage Gateshead
Northern Pride Emergency Services Breakfast, Newcastle Civic Centre
Sunderland Pride Emergency Services Breakfast, Sunderland Fire Station
North East Charity Awards, The Boiler Shop, Newcastle
Northumbria Police Christmas Carol Service, Hexham Abbey
Salvation Army Christmas lunch
NE1 Presents, Grey’s Monument, Newcastle
FACT charity ball, Hilton Hotel, Gateshead
Tall Ships, Sunderland
Christmas Showcase events, The Botanist and Banyan, Newcastle
National Emergency Services Memorial Festival of Remembrance, Manchester Cathedral and St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh
Mind launch event, Eldon Square, Newcastle
Sunderland and Newcastle Citizenship ceremonies
Christmas Light switch on, Raby Arms, Hartlepool
Army Benevolent Fund events, Alnwick Garden, HMS Colliope and Poplar Garden Centre, Durham
Jarrow Cemetery Remembrance Day event
Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance, Durham Cathedral
Fisherman’s Mission, North Shields
Nissan Sports and Leisure Fireworks Display
We have recorded a number of songs:Trinity Square Virtual Light Switch on - recorded in December 2020 under Covid restrictions of our favourite Christmas songsOne Call Away - recorded in August 2020 for National Emergency Service Festival of ThanksgivingAmazing Grace - recorded in August 2020 for National Emergency Service Festival of ThanksgivingWe'll Meet Again - a special performance recorded in April 2020 while apart during the COVID-19 pandemicSound of Silence - recorded in October 2019 to mark World Mental Health DayOde to The Newborne - an original song written by Stu Hagon and recorded in September 201712 Days of Christmas - because we can't always be serious and recorded in December 2017True Colours - our first time in a recording studio in February 2017Fairytale of New York - our first ever performance in December 2016To view all our videos, check out our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRHkFxT1FlHxEXI6FD35IFA
Donations
Our self-funded choir will always welcome donations, no matter how big or small:
Blue Light Choir
Lloyds Bank
Account No: 36430268
Sort Code: 30-91-91
Please include a message so we know who to thank!
Contact Us
For more information, to join or to make a booking please email using the link below.
Follow us and preview our work
We are a SATB assemble, made up of professional singers to those who have never sang before, we all work hard to learn our songs to perform without sheet music which is our USP! Our repertoire consists of pop music, musical theatre and acapella however we are very open to learning something new!We do a number of fundraising events each year for our chosen charities and as we are self-funded, we host a number of events to be able to keep us going.Ideally our members will be linked to blue light, NHS or key worker services and have a real passion for giving back to the communities we serve. A big part of our choir is that we have fun, share the ups and downs of life and eat lots of cake.We welcome new members at any time of the year, please get in touch so we can give you the details on what to expect. We also host 4 new member open evenings each year, allowing for potential new members to come along and meet our existing members in an informal setting (and also enjoy a buffet tea).Our next new members open evening is scheduled to take place on 24 August 2023 at Nissan Sports and Social Club, Washington Road, Sunderland from 6.30pm.If you would like to attend, please drop an email to [email protected] or pop a message through Facebook messenger.