COMMUNITY
COSFORD Sings
ello, my name is Kellie Brown and I have been stationed with my husband at RAF Cosford since
2007. I am a working mum of two wonderful boys and been ‘married’ to the RAF for 15 years. After living in
the bubble of the military I decided to do something for myself and the community. This is our story.
Christmas 2011 I watched Gareth Malone on his catch up programme about his time with the Military Wives Choir. I was totally inspired by him and the women involved and how the choir had changed the lives of service wives like myself.
I had never started a choir or group of any kind and the last time I sang was at school umpty-ump years ago. I couldn’t read music and didn’t think I was even very good at holding a tune. What I did know however, was that I had drive and ambition and was willing to learn and that I was captivated by the idea of bringing this to our area.
After seeking advice and guidance from our local Padre and Community Development Officer and of course a confidence chat with my other half, I posted a message on Facebook to see if anyone would be interested. To my surprise (and delight) I had a good response. The Community Development Officer and myself nervously set a date and venue and waited for the ladies to arrive. Again surprised and delighted we had a huge attendance for our first meeting. We had no musical direction so decided to sing along to some karaoke cd’s and see what happened. The night was a huge success and great fun.
52 Envoy Spring 2014
After a few months, and after joining the Military Wives Foundation, we formed a committee (who I owe a great deal to for their support and commitment) found and appointed a Musical Director and arranged and performed at our first event for family and friends. What a night! Very nervous ladies performed to what turned out to be a packed hall and ended with a standing ovation.
That evening I am sure I didn’t drive home but floated on a cloud of excitement, for our future and enormous pride in those I can now call my good friends and fellow songbirds. Our ethos with the Military Wives Choir Foundation is “Stronger Together”. Never a truer statement.
We have now been running for just over a year and have had many successful events including the H4H Gala evening which raised over £1000. We also performed at the RAF Benevolent Fund Proms 2013 where we had the delight of singing alongside the Shawbury Military Wives Choir.
We have also covered many other charity events from local schools and nursing homes to holding a fundraising stall at the RAF Cosford Air Day, where we were lucky enough to be sited next to the Red Arrows! We now have a full diary for 2014 including performing at the opening of this years Grand National at Aintree and many other charity events.
www.raf-ff.org.uk
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