Parent Bloggers and The London Community Gospel Choir Unite

Being part of a choir has never been more popular, thanks in part to recent TV series and coverage.  The sense of community from being part of a group activity, as well as the reported health and well-being benefits make this something many would like to be involved in.  It requires little expense and no special equipment or instruments.

However, practical and logistical reasons make it difficult for modern, busy parents to attend groups and regular practices.  Through this innovative project, a group of busy mums have had the chance to receive expert tuition from the London Community Gospel Choir, to join a community and rehearse to take part in a much wider event, all from the comfort of their own homes.

Using Google Hangouts, parent bloggers Marianne Weekes; Sharon Donnelly and Helen Wills, together with Mary Isokariari from The Voice publication have been receiving expert tuition and practising 'O Happy Day' before coming together for a World Guinness Record Attempt of the largest ever gospel choir at the 30 Choir festival on Sunday 5th May.

Rosie Shelly, Community Manager at Google UK said "this project is a great example of people getting together online and it's a brilliant use of the Google + Hangout platform".

The bloggers involved have been sharing this journey live with their viewers, and shown remarkable bravery! Helen Wills got involved because she "thought it sounded like a really cool idea and it's so exciting to be involved in something that's never really been done in this way before".

Sharon said she was "looking for something fun to get involved in", and being able to do it from home really appealed.  Mari had secretly harboured a desire to win the X Factor, and felt that this might be the closest she'd get!

Actually, she's not a million miles from X Factor.  All those choirs you see performing on Saturday night shows?  Yep, chances are that's the London Community Gospel Choir.  They've performed with the likes of Kylie Minogue; Blur; Nick Cave; Madonna; Elton John and Westlife to name but a few.

And now they're singing with bloggers we know and love - how cool is that?

If you'd like to go along to the 30 Choir Festival celebrating their 30th Anniversary, you too could rehearse with them and join the world record attempt.  Tickets can be booked online.

Meanwhile, I'll leave you with their live performance last week at The Shard where they became the first live music act to perform at what is now the tallest building in Western Europe.