Bath choir event to encourage more men to sing and socialise

An event to encourage more men to socialise and bond over singing is being held later.

Organisers of Just Men Singing, which will take place at Charlie’s Bar at Twerton Park, home of Bath City Football Club, say they want men of all musical abilities to have the chance to get involved with a choir, or even just come along and watch.

Choir leader Matt Finch created the free event after he noticed that men were the “minority” in many musical groups.

“We know it’s [singing] really good for you, but for some reason or another, men don’t come,” Mr Finch said.

The 53-year-old said he feel like the minority when he went to a choir meeting attended by 50 women and only three men last year.

At the meeting, several choir leaders also said they struggled to recruit men to their groups.

Mr Finch said the gender disparity could be off-putting for some men, even if they were keen to join a choir.

Just Men Singing invites all men to join in, regardless of their experience or ability.

Along with two other choir leaders, Mr Finch will teach attendees the basics of singing.

“There will already be loads of men there who know what they’re doing, who will be really happy to take somebody under their wing, lead them through, say ‘don’t worry, we just sing at the top of our voices and have a nice time’,” he said.

He added: “I just hope that if there’s one man who comes who’s not already singing in a choir, who turns up and gets to the end of that evening and goes ‘yeah… I might go along to a choir’, then tick – it’s a winner.

“If we’ve won one person who’s going to be happy, have less chance of mental health struggles and all the other things you see in the news at the moment about men and their health, it can only be a good thing,” he said.

The event begins at 19:30 BST on Saturday.