Epic 24-hour 'sing-a-thon' will support Windsor emergency homeless shelter to do more

A 24-hour 'sing-a-thon' is being planned in Windsor next month to raise an ambitious amount of money for Windsor Homeless Project.

Rachel Price and her friend Debbie Murphy are both part of the Cold Weather Night Shelter Committee for Windsor Homeless Project.

Last year, for the first time, Windsor Homeless Project ran the night shelter out of the Alma Beacon in Alma Road.

Telling RBWM that there was ‘a desperate need for emergency homeless accommodation’ in Windsor, WHP (part of the charity Windsor Christian Action) applied for planning permission to set some up.

They got planning permission for 15 guests, said Rachel, and decided to run the shelter every single night for about 10 weeks last winter.

Rachel and Debbie were volunteers during that time, and Rachel says the emergency shelter was ‘very heavily used’ with more than 38 guests throughout the winter.

As well as offering a hot meal and somewhere to stay the night, it offered ‘support and camaraderie’ somewhere to go, have a quiet moment or find someone to talk to.

In addition, Rachel and Debbie also sing with the Glee Club UK choir in Windsor. It is a very informal choir of about 100 members with no auditions.

All about the ‘feel good factor’, it is led by James Manwaring, who is a community figure on the local music scene and is director of upper schools music at Windsor Boys’ School – also where the Glee Club sings.

One day while singing in her car, it hit Rachel that she could probably keep it up for about four hours - which spawned the idea of raising money with a 24-hour singalong.

She, Debbie and James then hatched a plan to marry the two, raising money for WHP.

This is important because WHP is hoping to take on board more guests and extend the period of time for another two to four weeks, Rachel said.

It is also the Glee Club’s 15th anniversary this year– so this charity sing-a-thon seemed like ‘a great way’ to be able to celebrate that in addition to raising some funds for WHP.

The idea is to have a rotation of choirs singing over the course of 24 hours, all with their own slot.

Singing will begin on Friday, September 26 and from 5’o’clock until 5’o’clock on Saturday at Windsor Boys’ School, with the Glee Club taking the first and last two-hour slot.

In addition, the plan is to have some designated slots for members of the public to come and join in.

Currently, the organisers are in the process of reaching out to choirs that may want to join.

So far they have several church choirs involved, including the Windsor Methodist choir.

“We’re really aiming to try and get about £1,000 an hour,” said Rachel.

“We know [WHP] desperately they need money. [The emergency shelter] was so well-used last winter.”

To see the fundraising page for this event, go to www.justgiving.com/page/-24-hour-windsor-homeless-project-sing-a-thon