A POPULAR community choir is preparing to hit a high note as it celebrates its tenth anniversary. The Big Sing, founded by Howard and Gemma Francis in Witham, will mark the milestone birthday by encouraging people to reconnect with community choirs. Since 2011, Howard and Gemma have launched choirs in Essex, Kent and Warwickshire, and are keen to emphasise that singing can bring everyone together after the pandemic. Gemma said: “We all know that many people across the UK have felt isolated and have found the past 18 months a significant challenge to their mental health. “We have seen that by gathering together, singing together and sharing life together we have been able to build deep bonds that have provided far more worth than simply a singing group.
A POPULAR community choir is preparing to hit a high note as it celebrates its tenth anniversary. The Big Sing, founded by Howard and Gemma Francis in Witham, will mark the milestone birthday by encouraging people to reconnect with community choirs. Since 2011, Howard and Gemma have launched choirs in Essex, Kent and Warwickshire, and are keen to emphasise that singing can bring everyone together after the pandemic. Gemma said: “We all know that many people across the UK have felt isolated and have found the past 18 months a significant challenge to their mental health. “We have seen that by gathering together, singing together and sharing life together we have been able to build deep bonds that have provided far more worth than simply a singing group.
A FORMER mayor and journalist has penned a new book about a newspaper editor travelling across the country to get what is the scoop of a lifetime. Former Maldon mayor and Heybridge councillor David Scott has published his latest novel based on the fictitious Thurnham and Shaldon Standard – a play on words for the Maldon and Burnham Standard. The Barlick Letter is set in 1989, just before the downfall of Margaret Thatcher and when computer technology was replacing typewriters at regional newspapers.
Cover of The Barlick Letter by David Scott Newspaper editor Dick Chinnery answers a cry for help from his former mother-in-law but then becomes entangled in a tale of scams, rip-offs and money laundering.