HEALTH &WELLBEING
®
With the unpredictable nature of life in the RAF,lots of pressure is put on families and the feeling of isolation can be common.
There is lots of research to say that singing in groups helps to alleviate stress and improve mental health, as well as bringing people
together.That’s why the Military Wives Choirs are so important.
“I have always been part of the military community as my dad served in the RAF. We moved around as afamily often, both in the UK and abroad, and Iwent to a total of seven different schools growing up. Imet my husband at RAF Scampton and after 15 years of travelling together, we settled at RAF Waddington.
In 2012, Ihad areally horrible year. My dad passed away suddenly and my husband developed mental health issues as aresult of his challenging tours. Ihad become somewhat of arecluse; we were in anew posting and I'd made no friends.
Waddington Military Wives Choir.
With an aim to bring women in the military community closer together through singing, there are over 70 Military Wives Choirs across the UK and overseas helping to combat this isolation.
Here, Nikki who sings as part of Waddington Military Wives Choir,tells us about her experience:
36 Envoy Autumn 2017
It was during this time that Idiscovered the Military Wives Choirs. Ihadn’t sung since being a kid so Iwasn’t sure what to expect and that first rehearsal night, Inearly didn't go. I turned around three times before I forced myself to step into the rehearsal room and now,I’m
so glad that Idid. Ihad such abuzz afterwards; Ihad just met 30 new people and everyone had been so
friendly.The ladies’ continued support and friendship helped me through an extremely tough time, getting me back on my feet and I’ve now been aproud member of Waddington Military Wives Choir for three and ahalf years.
Nikki –Home for Christmas album recording day
As amember,I’ve had some amazing experiences including recording our Christmas album in York. It was an incredible thing to be part of and again, such abuzz to be involved! Putting the headset on was brilliant. Knowing that we were singing the same song and standing with so many other military ladies across all the Military Wives Choirs before coming together as one on the album was phenomenal.
Iwould definitely recommend joining aMilitary Wives Choir to anyone in the military community and promise that it'll be the best thing you ever do. The support from across the network is extraordinary and it takes the worry out of moving –you've made friends before you've even packed abox!”
York Home for Christmas album recording session
The Military Wives Choirs Home For Christmas album is out now and available from Amazon and iTunes. To find aMilitary Wives Choir near you, visit
militarywiveschoirs.org, email
info@militarywiveschoirs.org or call 020 7463 9407.
raf-ff.org.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
