Stay Tuned

Sing for Your Life Canada founder Nigel Brown turns music-loving seniors into friends.

- Vibhu Gairola

AS THE SUMMER fades away, the lights flicker on at the Heritage, a seniors’ centre in West Kelowna, B.C. Joking and chatting, 50 participants take their seats, forming a large circle. For the next hour and a half, the group belts out nostalgic selections from their handouts—“Edelweiss,” “Somewhere My Love” and Vera Lynn ditties from the 1940s.

But Sing for Your Life Canada is more than an amateur choir. Established by executive director Nigel Brown in 2009, the organization was envisioned as equal parts activity (the sessions encourage elderly members to socialize and stay engaged) and advocacy (Sing for Your Life is outspoken about health issues such as dementia and offers strategic coping mechanisms). Brown is no stranger to charity work: he co-founded the Canadian chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation in 1983. And it was Brown’s brother who founded the first incarnation of Sing for Your Life, based in Britain.