SING BY ME

More used to singing for fun in Essex village halls, Andrew Small’s Essex amateur choir, the Buskerteers, has shot to fame after recording an online version of Ben E King’s Stand By Me in an effort to raise funds to support NHS workers. Nicky Adams tells the story

- Nicky Adams

Singing bass with the community choir Buskerteers, when they met to rehearse every week at Writtle University College, was something Carol Mason used to look forward to.

‘There is huge joy in singing as a group,’ she affirms.

But with the country in lockdown, singing together in person became impossible, so instead choir leader Andrew Small suggested moving the Buskerteers into cyberspace to record a charity video to raise funds for the NHS. Carol was just one of the 160 Buskerteers singers who jumped at the chance to take part.

‘Singing in a video seemed such a small thing to do to achieve a worthwhile response,’ says Carol. ‘My daughter is divisional manager of Frailty and Geriatrics and Emergency Medicine at Queen’s Hospital in Romford and responsible for the wards where Covid-19 patients are treated. Compared to what the NHS staff are doing, our input is so small, but it feels as though we are able to contribute in some tiny way, and to show our appreciation for all their hard work.’

Carol appears top row, fourth from the left in the Buskerteers’ video montage of faces belting out an arrangement with perfect harmonies of Ben E King’s 1961 classic Stand By Me, which was published online in April as part of a fundraising initiative to support those who work in the NHS. Buskerteers founder Andrew admits that organising a virtual choir was a new challenge for him, even though he has been involved in music for 10 years.