Singing workshops give Furness youngsters a voice

More than 40 children now attend Be.Vocal sessions every week - and there is even a group for adults too.

Set up by professional singer Becki Fishwick, the workshops take place in the Cooke's Studio building in Abbey Road, with the participants learning all manner of styles from pop and rock, to jazz and musicals.

Having seen the programme grow from one evening per week to regular sessions for both children and adults, live performances, private tuition and school and community group visits, Becki is delighted by the progress over the past 18 months.

"I can't believe how well it's gone so far," she says.

"I loved my experience of being a tutor at the South Lakes Rock School, and I just wanted to do something where I could be in control of my own time.

"This is something that I would have loved as a kid, but nothing like it existed. I think that's why it's been so popular, because it's exactly what I would have wanted growing up.

"It started just as a trial thing with some of my friends' children and I used their feedback of what worked and what didn't. We quickly went from just one day, to two days, to three days, and I've even added a session for women too, where I have 10 women coming along each week.

"There are also schools approaching me to come in and do workshops, so we've worked with South Walney Juniors and Victoria Infants. I find that singing is very therapeutic and good for well-being, so I've reached out to Mind In Furness and I would like to collaborate with a lot more groups and charities."

The Be.Vocal workshops are for children aged four to 12, as well as a session for women too.

Becki and her assistant Beckah Lloyd coach the participants up to a standard where they are capable and confident enough to perform live, with regular shows taking place at venues such as Costa Coffee, in Barrow.

"We're always working towards putting on a show, because that's where you get the most confidence, from performing live in front of an audience.

"There is a bit of homework; I give them a folder of songs to take home and learn, but it's not really homework because they love doing it.

"At our last show, the theme was guilty pleasures and I asked the parents to pick a song each to learn - that was quite fun to teach them songs from the 80s and 90s that they've never really heard before.

"We've also raised a lot of money for local charities from doing the shows - recently we gave £200 to Angel Wings for a cuddle cot for bereaved parents, and we also raised money for the victims of the Manchester bombing last year, because the girls are all fans of Ariana Grande and it felt like a good thing to raise money for."

The support that Becki has received so far has allowed her to grow the business beyond what she envisaged starting out a year-and-a-half ago, and that has mainly come from the local companies and groups that she works closely with.

She continues: "Signal Films have been the most supportive to me, letting me use their space downstairs and their director, Kerry Kolbe, has been really helpful.

"Some sponsorship and funding would allow me to reach out and do a lot more, so I'm always trying. It's been very rewarding though that I've built this up myself over the past 18 months.

"We've been able to buy iPads for the lyrics and playing tracks, so we'd also like to be able to buy more equipment because things like that are a big help."

It is not just for girls, and Becki is keen for more boys to follow in the footsteps of Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran and put their singing ability to the test.

There will be a chance for more youngsters to get involved in a series of summer bootcamps during the school holidays, which have proved extremely popular so far.

"The Easter Bootcamps have already sold out, which is good news, but we'll be doing four or five weeks of them in the summer, so people should look out on Facebook for them."

For more information and to find out about new summer bootcamps being announced, visit www.facebook.com/barrowsinging