Step into a fun way to get fit with The People’s Walking Choir!

A unique musical fitness project is helping residents exercise without realising it. The People’s Orchestra (TPO) came up with the idea of free ‘Walking Choirs’ across Sandwell and Dudley.

The quirky idea is that those taking part will be so preoccupied with learning a new song while walking around a park for an hour, they won’t notice how many steps they have clocked up.

Walking Choirs are at Leasowes Park in Halesowen and Swan Pool at Sandwell Valley. The healthy scheme has been running since last October and could branch out further afield into more local spaces in a similar fashion to Parkruns.

Chris Weber, who leads the TPO’s Show Choirs, came up with the idea. He said: “The concept is that if we are teaching someone to sing something new while exercising, would they realise they are keeping fit, because the brain tends to focus on one thing. If a person is learning something while walking, that’s good exercise to stimulate both the body and mind, plus there’s the feel-good factor of singing.”

“Although, the other people in the park will think it sounds horrible as they won’t be in tune because they’ll all have headphones on. Singing in tune isn’t the point of it though, it’s about getting fit.”

Four pilot walks went well and led to The National Lottery Community Fund, SCVO and The Big Give being awarded to The People’s Orchestra Charity to fund wireless headphones, staffing and equipment for the first year.

Three sessions of ‘Walking Choirs’ are free for residents to take part. Halesowen have two sessions at 11:30 and another at 1:00, whilst West Bromwich have one at 9:30am. TPO hopes this is the beginning of a huge project that could expand nationwide and become a regular weekly fixture.

Everyone joining in the Walking Choir session will be able to hear the leader through wireless headphones. Using a microphone and MP3 player full of backing music, the choir leader will teach a new song while the group walks.

Chris added: “I got the idea when I was in a park in London with my brother and saw a group of women led by a fitness instructor with a microphone and loud speaker. She was ordering them to do Army style call and response stuff and I thought how fantastic it could be with singing.

“When I first proposed the idea to TPO founder Sarah Marshall, we were laughing about how bonkers it was, but it’s gone down really well.

“There are unusual tracks, as they need to be songs no-one knows, so the brain doesn’t think about all the walking and everyone is focused on learning instead. There are simple harmonies and cannons designed to vary in pace with quicker sections and slower music for cooling down.”

The only other type of walking choir in the UK is different as it is a hiking group that performs once it reaches a destination, explained Chris.

“It would be a dream to roll the TPO’s Walking Choirs out across the country,” added Chris. “I’m hoping they will be really successful and help people keep fit without thinking about it.”

Both groups’ reactions have also been positive. Jennifer Grosvenor said of her experience “I went on my own for the first time on Saturday. Everyone was very welcome and it was a lovely wholesome and positively experience. I really recommend it.”

Eileen Sharpe commented, “I really enjoyed my first walk with you & i will definitely do it regularly. It was so uplifting – thank you Chris & your two colleagues for making it fun & enjoyable!”

The Walking Choir takes place every Saturday and is working in partnership with The Change Consortium CIC, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, SCVO and The Big Give. For more information and how to sign up, visit https://thepeoplesorchestra.com/events/ or visit The Walking Choir Facebook page.