Skip to content

The Norfolk choir that gives people their voices back

Alex Dunlop/BBC Roger Woodrow singing in the choirAlex Dunlop/BBC
Roger Woodrow goes to the choir with his wife, Jane

A choir has been set up to help people who struggle to talk after suffering strokes or brain injuries.

The Norwich Aphasia Choir meets once a month, under the leadership of a speech therapist who uses music to help people express themselves.

Aphasia is a condition that affects about 350,000 people in the UK.

Research shows that some people can sing even if they cannot talk because we use different sides of our brains for speech and music.

Alex Dunlop/BBC Elissa ManziAlex Dunlop/BBC
Elissa Manzi hopes there will be more aphasia choirs in the region

Elissa Manzi, 28, who is a speech and language therapy lecturer at the University of East Anglia, set up the choir.

"I worked in stroke rehabilitation, and I often used music to help people express themselves, and I've seen the benefits of using music in that way," she said.

"It's all about which part of the brain has been impacted. Often our language centres used for speaking are in the left hemisphere of our brain, whereas music and music processing triggers the right hemisphere, so often people can sing more easily than they can talk."

Alex Dunlop/BBC Bob Lailey, who enjoys singing with the choirAlex Dunlop/BBC
Bob Lailey, who struggles to talk, said "the music flows" when he sings

One of the singers, Bob Lailey from Walcott, Norfolk, struggles to get his words out when he is speaking but can fluently sing songs such as Happy Birthday.

"The music flows and it ticks your brain over," he said.

Alex Dunlop/BBC Neil Croft sitting next to his wife in the choirAlex Dunlop/BBC
Neil Croft described the aphasia choir as "beautiful"

Neil Croft, who has aphasia, sometimes finds it difficult to make himself understood.

He described the choir as "beautiful", and his wife added: "It's the words that they know because it's familiar, and the tune, so the words just come naturally a bit more than in everyday speech.

"It's seems a bit mad to me because we've never been into singing in our lives, but this has really helped."

Alex Dunlop/BBC Hilary Myers with her fellow choir membersAlex Dunlop/BBC
Hilary Myers, who had a stroke, can't say the words but can sing them

Hilary Myers had a haemorrhage and then a stroke 10 years ago.

Her husband described the choir as "a nice place to come, just meeting other people who are in the same situation".

He added: "She can sing the words but she can't actually say the words."

Jane Woodrow comes to the choir with her husband Roger, who has had two strokes.

She said: "Everyone's in the same boat. It doesn't matter if you get the words wrong as everyone understands."

Ms Manzi believes it is the first aphasia choir in the east of England but said she hoped other areas would be inspired to set them up.

presentational grey line

Follow East of England news on Facebook, Instagram and X. Got a story? Email [email protected] or WhatsApp 0800 169 1830