Rock Choir - Keep Britain Singing - Led by local Rock Choir Leader!

THE Rock Choir is the largest contemporary Choir of the UK and remains unique with over 32,000 Members participating in approximately 400 local communities across the UK. With Coronavirus gripping the country and with many of their Members in isolation, Rock Choir Founder and Creative Director, Caroline Redman Lusher, has announced how Rock Choir will:- 'Keep Britain Singing.'

Rock Choir is known for its unique formula that leads to a natural high and change of mood experienced by its Membership on a weekly basis and confirmed by a singing experiment featured on BBC2's:- 'Trust Me I'm A Doctor.' Rock Choir is built on an uplifting ethos of family, fun, friendship and community spirit and for many thousands taking part, it's a lifeline! Not only does Rock Choir improve lives, but some Members have reported that they've come off anti depressants, found new confidence in themselves and discovered pure happiness. With the entire UK public facing isolation, the natural and immediate step was for the Rock Choir Team to find a way to support every individual and family across the UK to offer them a daily boost of Rock Choir.

The current and future well-being of the general public and the Rock Choir Members is now the biggest priority for Rock Choir and with many individuals now going into isolation, it was important to come up with a project that would benefit everyone. Therefore Rock Choir are encouraging the whole country to join with them for a daily fun sing a long of uplifting contemporary pop songs via their Facebook Page.

Since Monday, 23 March 2020, Rock Choir is now going live from their Facebook page at 3pm and will commit to this event EVERY DAY until their normal rehearsals can resume. The Rock Choir Team of talented musicians and singers will take part in leading the singing and will rotate in front of the camera on a daily basis to deliver an uplifting, positive song via Facebook Live. Each individual or family in isolation will be encouraged to join in and sing with the Leader along with the thousands of Rock Choir Members who will be excited to be singing every day too. The Rock Choir team is committed to making this event happen every day to give everyone some stability and a routine until the self isolation guidelines are lifted.

Rock Choir has positively impacted not just its Members but their relationships around them too; their family, friends and colleagues. With their new:- 'Keep Britain Singing' project, the hope is that everyone will continue to feel better and stronger the more they sing.

Each song will be announced the day before each session is broadcast and the activity will include the mass sing a long as well as fun extras, singing tips and ideas to help everyone connect with music over this period of time. Song requests and interaction will also be very welcome!

Rock Choir has also announced to their Members will be teaching their normal Choir rehearsal schedule using live interactive teaching sessions online. All Members will be asked to login and participate at their normal rehearsal time and will therefore be able to interact with 1 other and their Leader. None of the current Rock Choir Membership will miss out on any of their sessions and this is vital for morale and wellbeing in these testing times.

Caroline Redman Lusher commented:- "The well being of our Members is and will always be our absolute priority and now we have the whole country to consider too! We have 32,000 'Rockies' in Rock Choir who, along with the rest of the general public, will each be facing uncertainty. Some will be scared, some lonely and others will be in isolation potentially for a long length of time. As well as committing to running our normal rehearsal schedule we are encouraging them and the public to join us daily and benefit from the well being effects of Rock Choir whilst we ask that our Rockies reach out to their family, friends and neighbours to all become part of a much bigger community of support. We have been hearing some inspirational stories from our Rockies who are already true community heroes during this crisis. I implore everyone to join in and sing with us each day. We can then contribute to everyone's daily routine and be a reliable and constant source of support for our Members and the UK community. We would also love any of our celebrity supporters to get in touch and consider giving up five mins of their day to get involved with our Keep Britain Singing campaign. It would be such a morale booster for our Rock Choir community! We know that singing boosts our levels of Endocannabinoids; neurotransmitters thought to be the cause of the 'natural high.' As well as giving us a 'buzz,' these chemicals are linked to improving mood and reducing anxiety and stress. This is essential to our well being and we aim to try and replicate these feelings with our online singing activities!"

Log in and join in the daily:- 'Keep Britain Singing Live' show, from 3pm, from Monday, 23 March 2020 - Facebook.com/TheRockChoir.

Inspirational students, alumni and employers celebrated at 1st virtual Employability Awards

THE outstanding contributions that employers, students and alumni make in supporting graduate careers have been recognised in the 1st virtual awards hosted by Edge Hill University's Careers Team.  In light of the current COVID-19 global pandemic with the Government urging people to stay at home, the Careers Team felt its community needed some positive news and decided to move the awards ceremony online, with winners announced on the Edge Hill Careers twitter account.

Jacqui Howe, Head of Careers, said:- "Our annual Employability Awards always gives us an opportunity to say thank you to the employers, alumni and staff who work in partnership with the University's Careers Team to provide the vital experiences our students need to develop their employability skills and help them compete for graduate employment. In these unprecedented times, we felt it was the right time to still celebrate their contributions, but respecting the Government's advice we used the virtual environment to spread good cheer. Our winners will still receive their trophies and certificates in the post and hopefully will have felt our admiration and gratitude for them online with the audience cheering on."

Each year, the awards recognise the progress and achievements students have made in developing their ability to stand out from the crowd in a competitive graduate jobs market. They also acknowledge the much needed support the University receives from employers in offering students employment opportunities and skills.

The winners were:-

► Alumni Award winner, George Gray, R&D Scientist for Bio-Tech, for his work with Edge Hill's Biology department to enhance the knowledge of industry, boosting employability by helping students build links with employers in the commercial sector.

► Alumni Award winner, Kurt Gagen, Senior Planner for the City of London, for his work with the Edge Hill Geography department to support the development of relationships with graduate employers including Transport for London, which has allowed students to build networks and gain insight into careers in geographic information systems and planning.

► Employability Award winner, Edge Hill's own student services Money Advice Team, for providing invaluable training and learning opportunities. Students said that working for the team has developed their adaptability, communication and problem solving skills.

► Employer Award winner, AO.com, for their continued engagement with the University across a wide range of departments. From attending careers fairs to participating in mock interviews and assessment centres, AO have had a big impact on boosting students skills.

► Employer Award winner, Company Chameleon, for their brilliant work with the Performing Arts department to provide multiple performance opportunities, networking, and outreach teaching opportunities in education settings, empowering students and raising aspirations.

► Employer Award winner, Leigh Film Society, for their work with students to provide invaluable work experience, networking opportunities, and shadowing freelance creative artists in their filmmaking process.

► Mentoring Award winner, Faculty of Education Student Academic Mentors, for their vital work in helping students to settle into University life, sharing their experiences and providing a friendly face to 1st year students.

► Newcomer of The Year winner, Tony Kemp, for his work as a Student Guide, spreading his positive story and sharing it with potential applicants.

► On Campus Student Employee of The Year winner, Thomas Stoltz, for his advocacy work with the Admissions team, playing a key role in mentoring new advocates and leading by example.

► Placement Provider winner, Mik Lees, from Warrington Council Ranger Service, for providing invaluable placement opportunities for the last decade to students on Ecology and Conservation courses, as well as bespoke learning visits on site each year.

► Student Placement Award winner, Bethany Saunders, for always getting stuck in and giving it her all, her reliability and work ethic.

► Student Employer of The Year winner, Trafford Council, for their flexibility, encouragement and support throughout courses.

► Student Employee of The Year winner, who wishes to remain anonymous, for working with young people with severe additional needs, throwing herself into the role and demonstrating adaptability.

► Supervisor of The Year winner, Digital Marketing Officer Alex Duffy, for offering extensive support, advice and training to support students skills, confidence and technical proficiency.

► Supervisor of The Year, Lab Manager Matt Smith, for providing high quality training, help and guidance, as well as flexibility around study.

► Student Volunteer of The Year winner, Sophie Quinn, for her amazing work as a domestic incident telephonist, supporting and empowering families affected by domestic disruption.

► Voluntary Organisation of The Year winner, Northwest Ecological Trust, for their flexibility, encouragement and allowing students to put their theory into practice.

► Year on year the calibre of nominations is phenomenal and as well as all the fantastic winners there were also a plethora of runners up and highly commended students all of whom have done amazing things to advance their skills and gain experience.

If you are a local employer who would like more information about working with the University's Careers Team to help support the employment skills of the next generation of graduates, contact:- Careers@EdgeHill.AC.UK or call:- 01695 657957.