Skylarks, North Walsham

Our Skylarks session meets on the 1st and 4th Wednesdays of each month at the Sacred Hearts Catholic Church Hall in North Walsham from 11am to 12:30pm. We have refreshments first, from 11-11:30am and then sing for an hour. These sessions are unfortunately cancelled for the time-being due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, we are holding sessions online! Click here to find out more.

The core participants are people with Parkinson’s and their carers but, as with all our regular community groups, they are suitable for everyone – all ages and abilities. Anyone can benefit! In fact, we need people from the wider community to join us to help keep the sessions sustainable and vibrant.

A typical session involves breathing exercises, vocal and physical warm-ups and songs that encourage maximum enjoyment and participation! We draw on principles from Singing for Better Breathing and Sing to Beat Parkinson’s. We are also joined and informed by a Speech and Language Therapist, Louise Lim, for input to help improve voice quality and communication (particularly important for people with Parkinson’s).

Contact us to find out more or just come along! We ask for a £4 voluntary donation per person. The sessions are designed as much to help carers as the cared-for.

For resources you can use to practice at home between sessions, see our Singing for Better Breathing and Sing to Beat Parkinson’s pages.

These sessions are linked closely with the Parkinson’s UK support group in North Walsham, currently co-ordinated by Andy Harding (who is also one of our volunteers!).