The health benefits of singing are being promoted by The Kirkwood, the hospice for Kirklees.
The charity’s Support and Therapy team has joined forces with Slaithwaite-based Colne Valley Group Practice to prescribe singing to patients.
Singing can have a hugely beneficial effect and now a weekly singing session has proved popular. Locals have dubbed the Friday sessions ‘Singing at Slawit.’
Mary Tyrrell Place, who manages Support & Therapy services for The Kirkwood, said: “Singing is well known for its impact on wellbeing, and I am passionate about The Kirkwood supporting people to come together in song in their local community.
“One of my roles is to break down myths and misconceptions that come with the word ‘hospice’. People often associate the word with cancer and the very end of life but The Kirkwood are here to support people at any stage of illness, and our focus is very much on quality of life.
“The aim of the singing sessions is simply that people feel better when they leave than when they arrived.
“It’s been so well received that the practice’s GPs are now actually prescribing the sessions – just as you would medication!
“We’ve had some amazing feedback. One person said it was ‘The best prescription ever received’, another told us ‘Friday afternoon is becoming my happy place.’
“Touchingly, one of our members told us it was ‘the first thing my mum [who is living with Alzheimer’s] has asked to come back to.’”
