Shirley Hull believes singing helps with respiratory health and runs a singing group in Pahiatua with that in mind. The sessions are held at St Peter's church in Pahiatua on Wednesdays.
By Leanne Warr
When Shirley Hull was looking for a way to help local people connect and promote health and wellbeing at the same time, she came up with an idea for a singing group.
“For me, starting this group was about respiratory health,” she says.
“It was about social and mental wellbeing, making connections with people.”
Shirley, who also sat on Tararua District Council until she decided to step down at the last local election, formed the group five years ago.
Music has always been a part of her family.
“My dad was a musician. All of my life we’ve been singing, dancing.”
She says one of the things she learned during her time on the council was looking for drivers to put things on in the community.
She says that she had heard stories about the health benefits of singing and realised if she wanted to create a singing group in Pahiatua, she would have to be the driver.
Shirley’s mum had respiratory issues but loved singing.
“Being somebody that sang a lot helped her maintain her respiratory system a lot longer.”
Shirley advertised the group and initially, it was people aged 60 or over who came along.
They carried on until lockdown, which she says sort of “put the kybosh” on things for a while.
Now the group has about 28 members who come along with an average of about 16 to 20 each week.
Shirley says it’s for people to come along, have a laugh and a sing song.
“It’s exercising their bodies from the inside and a bit of the outside,” she says, adding that they like people to get up and move, especially with songs such as Sweet Caroline which bring that kind of energy.
The focus is not on whether a person is a great singer.
Shirley says they talk about little things such as deep breathing, posture and whether people can hit the high notes or the low notes.
“The main thing is that people enjoy it because they won’t come if they don’t enjoy themselves.”
Most of the songs they do sit in the medium range to make it comfortable for everyone and there are a variety of songs from the 60s to the 90s and for Shirley, many of the older songs bring back memories of sitting in the car and singing along to the radio.
“That’s the sort of spirit we want to invoke.”
The sessions are held at St Peter’s church during the school term at 1pm on Wednesdays and include a cup of tea and social time.
While there is no cost involved, participants are asked to bring along a packet of biscuits or a $5 donation to St Peter’s.
Sessions will restart on May 8. If you are interested in coming along or want to know more, ring Carol on 0275628619.
Leanne Warr has been editor of the Bush Telegraph since May 2023 and a journalist since 1996. She re-joined NZME in June 2021.
There were 24,318 breath tests recorded in the region in just one month.