Our News
New research finds mental and physical health benefits to joining the Military Wives Choirs
Lieutenant General Sir Gary Coward, KBE, CB, National Chairman of SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity said: “All in SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity are greatly saddened to hear of the death of our Patron, Her Majesty The Queen. As the longest serving British Monarch in history, The Queen’s unquestioning duty and dedication to the nation and the Commonwealth will be deeply and profoundly missed. “In 1952 The Queen became Patron of SSAFA and together with Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, she supported and fundraised for SSAFA throughout her life. As the Nation and the World mourns, our thoughts are with our new King as well as our President, His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent and the Royal Family; I speak on behalf of the charity in offering our deepest and most heartfelt condolences at this difficult time.” Maggie Pedder, Chair of Trustees of the Military Wives Choirs said: "The Military Wives Choirs trustees, team and choir members on British military bases across the world are greatly saddened to hear of the death of Her Majesty The Queen. Our thoughts are with the other members of the Royal Family at this most difficult time. We remember her duty, dedication and compassion to the nation and the Commonwealth; Her Majesty will be truly missed."
Following on from the announcement of our concert series to celebrate the Military Wives Choirs turning 10, we are pleased to share the news that tickets have now officially been released for the first two concerts in the series: St Albans and Winchester. Our first concert will take place at St Albans Cathedral on Saturday 18 June 2022, and tickets are now available on our concerts page. The second of our concerts, based at Winchester Cathedral, will be held on Friday 22 July 2022. Tickets can also be purchased on our concerts page . The other three concerts, for which tickets will be released soon, are: Lincoln Cathedral—Friday 2 September 2022 Exeter Cathedral—Saturday 24 September 2022 Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh — Saturday 29 October 2022
On Friday 29th April 2022, the Military Wives Choirs had the pleasure of attending and performing at the 2022 Celebrating Forces Families Awards—and we were delighted to watch our Chair of Trustees, Maggie Pedder, win the Family Volunteer of the Year award. Maggie is a modest person, having spent most of her life in a “behind the scenes” role, with very little public recognition. She started volunteering in the 1990s with SSAFA and Relate whilst her husband was serving in the Army in Germany. Maggie continued to volunteer her time with the Army Families Federation, the Army Widows Association, the Peter Cowley African Trust, ABF the Soldiers’ Charity, and the Military Wives Choirs—both since its inception in 2012 and as Chair over the past three years. As a charity, we have benefitted greatly from Maggie’s support since she joined us, and we are so pleased that her valuable contributions to the charity sector have been marked with such a prestigious award. We look forward to continuing to progress under the guidance of Maggie, and we are very excited to see how we grow over the coming months and years.
Katherine Jenkins and the Military Wives Choirs to perform at Sandringham
Throughout 2022 we will be undertaking research into barriers to entry into our choirs faced by women in the military community. We know many of our current members struggled to get over the threshold into their first rehearsal, and we also know that since joining they’ve never looked back! Funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust’s Tackling Loneliness & Isolation grant, the research will be carried out by academics from both the Veterans & Families Institute for Military Social Research, and the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research, both based at Anglia Ruskin University. Professor Helen Odell-Miller OBE, Director of the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research at ARU, said: “We are honoured to be part of this essential collaboration furthering the understanding of how music contributes to the well- being and quality of life of those who support the military workforce. At CIMTR we are thrilled about the mutual collaboration and enrichment which will happen through working with Military Wives Choirs and ARU's Veterans and Families Institute for Military Social Research.” Matt Fossey, Director of the Veterans and Families Institute for Military Social Research at ARU, said: “This is an important collaboration that will gives us meaningful insights into the positive contributions that music makes to the families of Military personnel. This research will also help with the understanding of any barriers that exist to participating in these groups. This is key to making the Military Wives Choirs as accessible as possible.” Researchers will work closely with current choir members through questionnaires, focus groups and interviews to discover their hesitancies around joining a choir. The year-long research project will culminate in a recruitment drive focused at breaking down the barriers uncovered in the course of the research. Academics from the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research at ARU will also work to produce a monitoring tool to enable us to evaluate the impact choir has for its members. For more information, please see the press release.
