Sounds Better CIC groups showcase new carol and perform in British Sign Language

Friday, 5 December 2025 14:11

Local community group Sounds Better CIC performed at St Thomas’s Church’s annual Christmas Tree Festival on Tuesday, 2nd December.

Bringing together all four of its local singing groups for the second time, they had also worked together to compose a song especially for the
occasion - and had learned British Sign Language for another.

The song is called “Gather Round”, and each Sounds Better group has taken part in composing it.

The Downton Downtime group, for people living with Dementia and those who support them, meet on a Tuesday morning. The group is run in
conjunction with Muse CIO and Beyond Dementia.

The Salisbury Breathless Singers group is for those living with lung conditions, and meets on a Tuesday afternoon in Wilton.

Harmony for Health is also for those living with lung conditions and meets in Mere every Thursday.

Salisbury Singing for Parkinson’s meets on the first and third Mondays of each month at St Francis Church. The group is run with the Salisbury
branch of Parkinson’s UK.

Between them, they composed the new carol, as well as deciding on which other songs and carols would be performed at the festival.

The performance included a rendition of Silent Night, where one verse was performed in British Sign Language.

After the performance, the groups had a photo taken with the Mayor of Salisbury, John Wells.

Liv McLennan, Director of Sounds Better CIC, says: “We’ve had a great year, and all of our groups have worked hard to compose this new song,as well as to learn BSL for Silent Night. It felt great to be able to show the people of Salisbury what we’ve been working on.”

Sounds Better CIC also runs 6-week Sing and Breathe introductory courses in partnership with Salisbury’s Parish Nurse at various venues around
Salisbury and simultaneously online via Zoom.

See a video of the Sounds Better groups singing Gather Round here: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1DF3cpM9aP/

You can catch Salisbury Breathless Singers performing at Tesco on Castle Street in Salisbury, at 2 pm on Tuesday, 9th December.