The Aphasia Choir is an opportunity to meet other people who have been affected by stroke and aphasia, and build confidence. We encourage, empower and support through music and song. Aphasia is a difficulty with communication after a stroke or brain injury. This might be problems with speaking, understanding, reading and/or writing. Because music and singing is processed in a different part of the brain to spoken language, some people with aphasia find that they can sing easily, even though speaking is hard.

The choir is run by two qualified Music Therapists, Laura Cook and Denise Wong. We meet in person in Bath and also have a live Zoom feed from the rehearsal, so people can join us from home. We use a variety of warm up exercises to take care of our members' voices and support breath control and voice volume. We then sing through some familiar songs. You can also hum, sing to ‘la’ or any other sound you find easy, or just listen. People on zoom will be muted while we sing together, because of the timing differences. They will hear the sound of us singing in the hall and can sing along at home.

If you are attending in person, we ask for a suggested donation of £2.50 per person for the costs of refreshments and venue hire. The choir are a very friendly and welcoming bunch and we also like to have fun while singing! We perform a few times per year, including at a Christmas concert and healthcare conferences. We have also appeared in the media including BBC Morning Live and Points West! You do not have to take part in performances if you don't want to. New members are always welcome, at our group in Bath or online. www.voicesofaphasia.com

To come and join us in person you will need to be able to travel to Bath independently or be brought by a carer or family member. We are unable to provide support with personal care and using the toilet at sessions, so you will need to have a carer with you if you need support with this.