Having already been part of a church choir, and because of her daughter’s love of musical theatre, singing was a source of comfort and safety for them. Andrea wondered if young people, who had an obvious love of music being at a concert, might also find singing therapeutic. Her idea was to bring them together to not only sing but also to share a drink, cake and be able to talk to other people who had shared experiences to try and make sense of what had happened.
Following the attack, the police set up an online support group on which Andrea posted her idea and was contacted by another lady and a young person and the three of them together formed the choir group, with the first meeting taking place in a small church in Manchester in February 2018.
Not long after its launch, Songs of Praise and the media heard about the group and it expanded much quicker than anyone imagined. The choir were asked to perform at the first anniversary of the attack. Despite the first meeting being one of tears and hugs and not really saying a great deal to each other and indeed many of us have never revealed the full stories of our experiences of that night, we felt that the common bond of music and a sense of trying to establish a new normal was easier when you had a friend who understood. Many of our families did not understand what we had experienced and it was simply easier to hug someone who knew what you were feeling.
