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To find out more about The Choir With No Name听please go to:

Or write to: The Choir with No Name, 33 Rushworth Street, London SE1 0RB

Or call: 020 7202 6648 or 020 7202 6647

For me, music is the thing that makes the world go round. It cheers me up when I鈥檓 low and helps me celebrate when I鈥檓 happy. Creating music is the most amazing thing; moments where everything gels between you and your fellow musicians and the music takes on a life of its own can be a magical experience.听

Choir singing provides that magical opportunity to everyone.听Everyone who鈥檚 brave enough to give it a go.听You can imagine how important it can be for the Choir with No Name members, who鈥檝e been down on their luck for a long time. The sense of joy and fun they get from singing, as well as the instant community you get when you join a choir, can be the key to their recovery.听听听

At the moment this opportunity is available to homeless people in London and Birmingham. This Lifeline appeal will help the Choir with No Name fulfil their plans to make it available to homeless people across the country, starting with their brand new choir in Liverpool.听

The Choir with No Name runs choirs for homeless people, and other men and women from the very edges of society. We were founded on the simple premise that singing makes you feel good; it distracts you from all the nonsense in life and helps you to build up your confidence and abilities.

Joining one of our choirs helps our members make friends and find a place they belong, where they can get back on their feet. We currently run three choirs - two in London and one in Birmingham - and in January we鈥檒l be launching another in Liverpool. Our plan is to start one new choir per year until there鈥檚 a Choir with No Name in every UK city that has a problem with homelessness. We give our members a weekly opportunity to get together and sing their hearts out, then share a delicious hot dinner (cooked by volunteers) at the end of each rehearsal. We also put on regular gigs.

Homelessness is about so much more than the lack of a roof over your head. There are usually a complicated mix of triggers, including relationship breakdown, mental illness and addiction. And many people affected by homelessness struggle with loneliness and isolation.

For our members, you can plainly see the difference the Choir with No Name makes. People often come along for the first time nervous and painfully shy, but leave with a grin from ear to ear and the promise to be back next week.听For folk whose lives have been in chaos for a while, having something they look forward to every week that they commit to is a hugely worthwhile thing in itself.听Add to that the thrill of performing and the confidence it inspires, and the solid friendships that blossom between the singers, and we鈥檙e on to a total winner.听Dean from our South London choir says:听鈥淚 feel like rehearsals are my drug for the week - I don鈥檛 need alcohol. It gives me hope, glory and a space to express myself.鈥�

Homelessness is on the rise. Your donation will help us continue to work with the increasing numbers of homeless people, and also to take our work to new cities across the UK.

38 year old Shane from London had a stable family upbringing. But after he started to use heroin in his late teens, he quickly found himself going off the rails and eventually became homeless.

Shane said, 鈥�I was living, I was present but I was literally dead inside, you know, so I had to fuel that with drinking and using drugs鈥�.

After years of substance abuse and sleeping rough, the pressure eventually became too much to bear.

He said, 鈥�I got a point where I just thought 鈥榥o, I can鈥檛 go on like this, I can鈥檛 deal with the pain鈥�. I attempted to take my life. I didn鈥檛 want to be here anymore鈥�.

But then Shane found the Choir With No Name, and through having something continuous to be a part of, and the uplifting power of music, Shane has managed to turn his life around.

He said, 鈥�If I hadn鈥檛 been with the Choir With No Name, I don鈥檛 think I鈥檇 be as confident as I am today without singing and nurturing music鈥�.

Shane has continued to develop his singing and is currently recording his first album.

You can listen to his music on .

Suzanne experienced a series of horrendous sexual attacks when she was a teenager. Afraid to tell anyone, she found it difficult to cope with what had happened to her and turned to drink.

Suzanne said, 鈥�The bottle was my mate. Nobody else was my mate, but the bottle was my mate. And without the bottle, I didn鈥檛 exist鈥�.

Struggling to get her life together, Suzanne ended up in prison. On her release, she then faced the difficulty of having nowhere to live.

She said, 鈥�I was homeless for 3 years and I was on the streets. I couldn鈥檛 get myself together. I knew that this, this thing I鈥檝e become, drinking and abusive, and swearing and nasty, I thought 鈥榯hat鈥檚 not my character鈥�. I鈥檓 not nasty inside鈥�.听

A friend told Suzanne about the Choir With No Name, and having now attended for 5 months, she鈥檚 beginning to feel hopeful about the future.

She said, 鈥�the more I think about going there, and concentrating and doing what I鈥檝e got to do, the better I feel. So听the best thing I ever did is join the choir鈥�.

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