Help Sing for Life's crowdfunder challenge!

 Bangor man John Hunter is appealing to local people to help raise a mammoth £16,000 in just 31 days for Sing for Life, a community choir for those affected by cancer.

Sing for Life was developed through a partnership between Cancer Focus Northern Ireland and the Crescent Arts Centre, and was inspired by the Sing With Us choir formed by the Welsh cancer charity, Tenovus.

The money raised in this appeal will be used to send Sing for Life members on a journey to Wales to perform with Sing With Us.

John, who’s a member of Sing for Life and was diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago, is calling on local people to support the online fundraiser.

He said: “The Sing for Life choir has played such a positive role in my cancer journey - it has been so therapeutic and a tremendous support for me at a very difficult time in my life. You can feel very low but singing your heart out among friends can really lift your spirits. It gives you a real sense of achievement and motivation.

“We’re very much looking forward to meeting Sing With Us. We hope to get new ideas about how to develop our choir, learn new skills to make it even better for our members, and to meet people who truly understand what it is to have cancer.”

The crowdfunding campaign, supported by Arts & Business NI, is running from Monday 26th January until Friday 27th February. Choir members are asking individuals, companies and organisations to make a donation online during this time – and there are some great perks for each donation.

To make a donation all you have to do is go to www.indiegogo.com and search for Sing for Life on Tour.

Liz Atkinson, Head of Care Services at Cancer Focus NI, said: “Singing in the choir is a very successful way of helping cancer patients improve their quality of life and self-esteem, and can also help with pain relief and depression.

“Part of the choir’s function is to encourage patients to tackle new challenges to help rebuild their confidence, and it’s amazing to see how this can revitalise them. We would love to be able to take our members to meet and sing with the people that inspired the setting up of our choir.”

Keith Acheson, Choir Conductor and Crescent Arts Centre Director, said: “We believe Sing For Life On Tour is a great project that will benefit our members greatly. With your help, their voices can travel further.

“Please donate what you can, or you can help simply by spreading the word to your friends, family and co-workers.”

There are rewards for individuals or groups who make a donation, for example if you give £5 you’ll get a badge, and for £250 you can have a choir flashmob. If your company donates £500, your staff can have a full day’s training with the choir’s conductor– a terrific idea for team-building - and for £1,000 you can have a unique piece of music commissioned and recorded by the choir.

Visit www.indiegogo.com and search for Sing for Life on Tour to donate.

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