Five years ago Caroline Edwards launched a choir in partnership with students from the University of Gloucestershire. It was such a roaring success that she was offered the opportunity of establishing new choirs, in partnership with Cheltenham’s Everyman Theatre.

Fast forward to 2018 and Caroline is now teaching over 250 singers who are split into nine choirs, ranging from an over 60s choir to a choir established to help teenagers who are living with anxiety and depression.

Caroline, who spent two decades working in the theatre industry, says seeing the impact that singing has had on her members has given her an enormous sense of satisfaction.

She said: “I started out teaching one group of 12. That’s now grown into teaching nine choirs with over 250 members. As things stand we have waiting lists of people wanting to join us, that shows the appetite people have for singing.

“My background is in the theatre. I’m from Cheltenham originally but I moved down to London and spent 20 years working in the theatre industry. I moved back to Cheltenham and I came into the Everyman and was employed to go out and run singing classes.

“It was at the time when Gareth Malone’s choir programme became very popular on television. People were starting to realise both the physical and mental benefits of singing. After the success of the first choir, I went to the Everyman and came up with the idea for launching various choirs, from the teenage choir to an over 60s choir.

“I recently started a new choir for all the wonderful nurses, staff and volunteers who work at the Sue Ryder hospice here in Cheltenham. They do such an incredible job in very tough circumstances. We’ve got some exciting plans for the future so watch this space.

“Being in a choir is no different to being in a football team. Every single member has different roles and they all pull together for the good of the team.

“Each choir rehearses weekly and then at the end of every term we get all the choirs together for a concert performance. That’s always one of the great events in our calendar.”

Caroline has also been instrumental in creating a very special choir that helps young people who are suffering with anxiety and depression.

She explained: “I’ve got 19 youngsters that are in that choir and all of them are enjoying the benefits that singing provides. Their voices are stunning, and their confidence is building, that’s all down to the power of singing. To see people who are going through a tough time get on stage and sing is very emotional.”

Being a full-time choir leader is a job Caroline loves, but she admits her teaching style can be quite strict at times.

She continued: “A big thing for me is having that discipline. I suppose I’m quite strict during rehearsals, I have very high standards. I expect a lot from my singers, I won’t have any mucking around!

“Because my background is in acting I don’t want to just teach choirs that get on the stage and sing, I want to add feeling and passion to the music. Last term the nurses choir sang ‘Something Inside So Strong’, you could see how the singers were connecting with the lyrics and really expressing themselves.

“I teach songs that give me that buzz. I want all ages to sing a varied genre of music. Currently I’m teaching my over 60s choir a song called ‘Uprising’ by Muse. That’s certainly not the kind of song you would expect an over 60s choir to sing, a few of the members were a bit unsure when they first heard the track but when it comes to performance night they will be up on stage giving it their all.

“When you get people in their nineties on stage singing with primary aged schoolchildren, that’s a truly incredible sight. There’s something very moving about seeing that mix of generations. In some productions I’ve seen three generations of the same family on stage.

“The best part of what I do is enjoying that magical moment when the curtain is about to go up. The choir is looking at me and I’m looking at them, everyone has that nervous excitement, it’s an extremely emotional moment, I get goosebumps just thinking about it!”