Continuous improvement at UK Soul Choirs

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Experience matters

At Soul Choirs, our members’ experiences really matter to us. 

At the turn of this year, we surveyed all members asking for feedback and suggestions for possible improvements.  From across our 350+ membership, 117 of you responded, and we received a 9.4 average on whether you would recommend Soul Choirs to a friend. 

This is of course amazing - thank you!  

Your enthusiasm for what we do has helped us grow our numbers, which in turn has helped us put on more events and experiences that both our members and audiences can enjoy. 

With 8 different local choirs, there will always be different ideas and opinions for us to consider.  That’s okay because we are interested in every one of your ideas and bits of feedback, and whilst we can’t incorporate everyone’s suggestions in one go, we are committed to working together with our members to improve and shape the Soul Choirs experience term after term.

Below is a summary of what we learned, what we’ve done or what we are still planning to do going forward to respond to your feedback.

Who responded?

Our 117 responses came from a wide spread across our different choirs, which we were pleased about. 

How did being a member of Soul Choirs help your singing?

Whilst improving your singing wasn’t the main reason for most members to join the choir, over half of respondents suggested their singing voice was getting stronger as a result of continuous attendance at choir.

That of course is no surprise to us, and we have been thinking how we can further support members and the wider community with our vocal workshop programs for singers of different interests and experience..

You asked. We agreed . We did.

You asked

Can we sing in charity gigs?
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We agreed and did

We have laid on a few charity gigs as requested :-)

You asked

Can we have more social events?

We agreed and did

We have encouraged more events,  and not just parties.  For example we organised theatre / comedy trips and quiz nights over the last two terms. 

You asked

Could we have access to lyrics when joining as a new taster?

We agreed and did

We have updated how we look after new tasters giving them access to lyrics for their taster session via the website 

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You asked and did

Can we have tiered stages for our performances?

We agreed

We have sourced venues with tiered stages as requested for London and Canterbury / Whitstable so far.  We will keep looking for ways to do this in Maidstone / Rochester and Tonbridge.

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You asked and did

Can we vote for the songs we sing?

We agreed and did

We have conducted several Polls on the Facebook page for members to have more choice in what songs we learn.  

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You asked

Can solos be spread amongst members?

We agreed

Going forward we are making sure this is a clear choice based on the best voice for the song - no preferential treatment ever given for older members. 

You asked

Can we have recordings of rehearsals?

We agreed and did

We have continued with the weekly Facebook live so members can use this as a tool to enhance their learning each week as needed

You asked

Can we sing some gospel songs?

We agreed and did

We included a Gospel song in the last concert :-)

You asked

Can we have more social events?

We agreed and di

We have actively encouraged going to the pub after rehearsals each week for a drink (non alcoholic too!) to encourage the building of friendships in choir and have also worked with our social secretaries for a more varied social event programme appealing to everyone. 

You asked

Could we have support for new members?

We agreed and did

We have assigned ‘Choir helpers’ at each rehearsal to ensure everyone gets a friendly welcome and somewhere to direct questions to if the leader is busy.

You asked

Can we have videos to help learn the songs?

We agreed and did

The Youtube video for each song we learn is now included in the members music area so you can get an idea of the vibe the song before learning it. 

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Living with Covid but still singing!

The Autumn term was the first term back from the pandemic lockdowns. It was a stressful time for choir leaders everywhere, who either did not reopen their choirs, or were tasked with a burden of extra work.  It was also an anxious time for returning members. 

Where respondents asked for more focus on implementing our covid policies, we did our best to respond to that, ensuring the practice rooms were complying with chair spacing and ventilation protocols, and we reminded leaders to remind all members to be respectful of different members' concerns.

We know covid is likely here to stay with us, so we will remain vigilant as to the advice throughout autumn and spring terms, and with your help, it won’t stop us singing together.

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Every idea and piece of feedback matters.

Going forward we’re really excited to read your ideas and feedback for the coming two terms, and in particular your views on our questions around concerts, rehearsals and socials.   It’s only with your help that we can make the best informed decisions.

All current choir members will have received the link to the current survey, and it is also posted in the members area.  We look forward to what you have to say.

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