The City of London Corporation’s charitable funder, City Bridge Trust, has awarded a grant of £5,000 to the Memory Lane Singing Club to provide a vital service to isolated members of the community and bring joy to residents in care homes across Barnet.

The grant will be used to help the organisation towards performing shows in the community at a subsidised rate over the next three years.

Memory Lane Singing Club is a small and thriving enthusiastic group of 35 plus members who meet weekly to sing. It provides an opportunity for those who are lonely and isolated to take part and socialise in a non-judgemental, affordable environment. Members perform six to eight shows per year in care homes and in day centres across Barnet.

David Farnsworth, Director of the City Bridge Trust said:

“We are delighted to be able to help the charity continue to enhance the lives of older people in Barnet through their singing group. City Bridge Trust is London’s biggest independent grant giver, making grants of £20 million a year to tackle disadvantage across the capital. We are committed to supporting Londoners to make our city a fairer place to live and work.”

Valerie Cowan, Treasurer at Memory Lane Singing Club, added:

"Our aim at Memory Lane Singing Club is to develop singing skills, encourage a sense of belonging and entertain in the community. We perform in care homes, day centres and for the isolated elderly.

“The grant from City Bridge Trust enables us to fund our performances for the next two years and in doing so bring enormous pleasure not just to our audiences but to our singers as well. None of us can imagine a Friday when we don't sing. Not only that but we all benefit from the therapeutic effects of singing as we are all seniors ourselves it all helps to keep us young at heart."

Between September 1995 and March 2016 City Bridge Trust awarded 145 grants for a total amount of £5,280,530 to organisations based in Barnet.

City Bridge Trust has awarded over 7,300 grants totalling more than £344 million to organisations across the capital since 1995, helping it achieve the City of London Corporation’s aim of changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of Londoners.

ENDS

For more information please contact:

Kristina Drake, Media Officer - The City of London Corporation

07710860884 / 020 7332 1125 Kristina.Drake@cityoflondon.gov.uk