It's been so long!

Back in 1918, things were very busy for us, and so it remained for a couple of years.

Until early 2020, when Covid-19 became a well-known word! Suddenly, we were unable to sing at funerals (we would be counted with the few family members allowed to attend, so of course, families would rather their members be there to say goodbye to their loved ones).

So, 2020 was a very quiet time for Occasions. In December, with rules relaxing a little, we were hoping to welcome our usual audience to Reading Minster for our Annual 3-Choir Christmas Festival, but sadly that was not to be. Nor was it possible in December 2021. 

But towards the end of 2021, we were asked to sing at the funeral of James Brokenshire, MP, (attended by many of the Great and Good) and a couple of weeks later, at his Memorial service, where we performed a rip-roaring 'Stand by Me'. He was obviously a very well-respected man, with a lovely family.

We were also very priviliged to be asked to sing for The Daffodil Club in Wokingham, a Lunch Club for carers of sufferers of dementia. This has been an ongoing event for us - we are very glad to be able to bring a little musical joy to these wonderful people, and hope to be able to see them on a lot more occasions (pun intended!)

Now we are in 2022, and in January, have sung at two funerals already. The latest, at Reading Crematorium, was for Ernie Brawn, and it was a real pleasure to hear about his amazing life - as a life-long Formula One fan, I was very pleased to gradually realise that his son was in the congregation (Ross Brawn, Team Principal of Mercedes F1, Head of Formula One Racing and the brains behind Michael Schumacher's astonishing run of success in the sport). For the Reflection music, the family asked us to sing 'Time to say Goodbye'

So, here we are, at the end of January 2022, hoping that we can continue to sing in public - this is what we were all born to do!