A new song has been launched to celebrate the community spirit shown during the recent Covid-19 lockdown.

The song and video was spearheaded by social enterprise Shared Harmonies, off the back of a project launched in April in response to the strict lockdown measures. The project is called ‘Our Song’ and was designed to help alleviate feelings of isolation through sharing thoughts and experiences of the pandemic.

‘Our Song’ captured the imagination of more than 300 people, who helped to compose the song through sharing their ideas, images, photographs, artwork and lyrics.

One participant in the innovative project said:

This has been the best thing to happen to me during the lockdown and has been an inspiration. I was fascinated by the whole process of how a song comes together and how you got the ideas from us was lovely.

People from across the UK joined in, with the youngest being 3-years-old and the eldest being 92. The Shared Harmonies team also involved 60 residents, staff and family members from two care homes in Yorkshire and Kent.

Shared Harmonies was founded in 2013 to provide a community singing space for people with long health and wellbeing conditions in the Leeds area. A crowdfunding campaign has also been launched by the organisation to help develop similar projects.

The pandemic has seen a large increase in people experiencing mental health challenges. A recent briefing by the charity Centre for Mental Health estimates that up to 10 million people may need mental health support following the pandemic. The charity also estimated that, of the 10 million total, 1.5 million would be children and young people under the age of 18.

Emma Baylin, Shared Harmonies CIC Founder, said:

I am so proud of this piece of work, of the Shared Harmonies team, of every single participant and of what we have created together.

I have been deeply moved by the feedback received, hearing from participants how vital it has been in keeping them positive during difficult times. I hope as new people hear the song, they hear their own thoughts and feelings reflected in the lyrics and they too feel a sense of connection.

The full song is available to view below:

For more information on the crowdfunding campaign and to donate, visit https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/shared-harmoniescic?utm_term=P7G68qpDK

Photo by Shared Harmonies CIC

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