PRESS RELEASE
 
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
 
Singing leaders from the much-loved Goldies Charity are keeping in regular touch across England and Wales with hundreds of isolated lonely people.
 
Goldies was forced to cancel all its 220 sessions last month but in maintaining contact with its older folk through a variety of online options. The charity (better known simply as Goldies) started 13 years ago and has a huge reputation for the Songs&Smiles it brings to brighten lonely lives.
 
The Online Mini Sing&Smile Sessions are led by Rachel Parry and Cheryl Davies who are based in South Wales but the sessions are being accessed by Goldies from across England and Wales.
 
A regular Thursday 2.30pm online session is receiving thousands of views plus many favorable comments from older people in their homes. The Goldies sing the popular hits of the 60s and onwards and the regular weekly sing-alongs include all the much-loved melodies that form an integral part of our sessions.
 
“We have been staggered by the response and we know that the family members of our Goldies are spreading the word to try and do our bit to reduce the loneliness in these very difficult times,” said Rachel Parry.
 
View the mini Sing&Smile sessions on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/UKgoldies... Rachel and Cheryl will also try and take requests if you want to send a message via Facebook www.facebook.com/goldiesuk or www.facebook.com/goldiescymru
 
Both Rachel and Cheryl can be contacted easily by email on rachel@goldiescymru.org.uk or cheryl@goldiescymru.org.uk. The Charity is planning to extend the regular sessions in the weeks and months ahead looking forward to the day when Goldies starts back again in a community room, church hall or library near you.
 
Find out more information here:
www.facebook.com/goldiesuk     www.facebook.com/goldiescymru
and keep up to date with important news as it gets announced at our website;
www.golden-oldies.org.uk     www.goldiescymru.org.uk
 
ENDS
 
Press enquiries to Goldies Cymru Programme Leader Rachel Parry on 07796 714816.

PRESS NOTICE .. Coronavirus
 
Wednesday 11 March 2020
 
THE Golden-Oldies Charity “Goldies” has cancelled all daytime SING&SMILE sessions across England and Wales for the next five weeks because of the Coronavirus COVID-19.
 
The charity, based in Bath, runs its popular FUN sessions for older vulnerable people at over 200 venues in community rooms, church halls and libraries. Thousands attend from Yorkshire to Cornwall,  across Essex, East London, the South West Counties and South Wales as Goldies Cymru.
 
The sessions are run by 72 dedicated local freelance leaders.
 
Founder Grenville Jones said;
 
“We know that many of the people who attend our Goldies Sing&Smile sessions are over 80 and are extremely vulnerable in this current situation. Our first responsibility is to care for their wellbeing.
 
“If the situation improves, as we all hope it will, Goldies will recommence the week commencing Monday April 20th.
 
“We have  contacted all of our session leaders and all the venues. Goldies sessions bring joy and are very important to so many older people. We hope that SONGS&SMILES will soon be back .”
 
www.golden-oldies.org,uk
 
ENDS
 
……contact is Grenville on 0777 828 2934

PRESS RELEASE
 
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
 
‘Goldies’ …. In a PUB!
 
Today – March 4 – the Golden-Oldies Charity launched its 200th venue with a Sing&Smile FUN session in a community PUB.
 
Goldies has developed its work over the past 12 years across South West England, South Wales, the Midlands, Yorkshire, Essex and most recently in East London. The sessions are enjoyed by thousands of older people. Sir Cliff Richard is the Patron.
 
The special guest was local resident Briony Williams from The Great British Bake Off – and her gran! Briony brought a celebration birthday cake for Goldies.
 
Session venues include community rooms, church halls, day centres, memory cafes, Libraries and now FOR THE FIRST TIME there’s Goldies in a pub at The Gloucester Old Spot, Kellaway Avenue, Horfield in Bristol.
 
The Gloucester Old Spot has established a reputation locally as a friendly community pub and owner Amy Devenish contacted Goldies about hosting a regular session.
 
Goldies sessions reach out to all cultures and founder Grenville Jones is always keen to underline the fact that Goldies is NOT about choir singing. The songs are the memory evoking popular tunes of the 60s onwards and chosen by the folk who attend across Wales and England.
  
As the charity has grown, sessions have been added that particularly address the issue of people living with Dementia and their Carers. There are also many sessions across England and Wales specifically for Adults with Learning Difficulties. It is estimated that over 4,000 people attend Goldies each month.
  
Under the heading Goldies Cymru sessions have developed year on year across South Wales supported by the brilliant Moondance Foundation and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Wales. Song books are produced in Welsh and there is a Welsh Language website goldiescymru.org.uk
  
The Goldies website is www.golden-oldies.org.uk
 
ENDS
 
ALL enquiries to Grenville on 07778 282934.
 
 

PRESS RELEASE
 
Thursday 27th February 2020
 
‘Goldies’ …. In a PUB!
 
INVITATION - to session 200 at The Gloucester Old Spot PUB, 138-140 Kellaway Avenue, Horfield, Bristol BS6 7YQ from 11.00am until 12.30pm NEXT Wednesday March 4. Please come along and meet many of the older people who have attended ‘Goldies’ sessions across the area and hear from them how Goldies brightens their lives!
 

​Want to know more? … contact Grenville on 07778 282934        jonesgrenville@aol.com
 
Next Wednesday – March 4 – the Golden-Oldies Charity will launch its 200th Sing&Smile FUN session in a community PUB.
 
Goldies has developed its work over the past 12 years across South West England, South Wales, the Midlands, Yorkshire, Essex and most recently in East London. The sessions are enjoyed by thousands of older people. Sir Cliff Richard is the Patron.
 
Special guest will be local resident Briony Williams from The Great British Bake Off – and her gran! Briony is bringing a celebration birthday cake for Goldies.
 
Session venues include community rooms, church halls, day centres, memory cafes, Libraries and now FOR THE FIRST TIME there’s Goldies in a pub at The Gloucester Old Spot, Kellaway Avenue, Horfield in Bristol.
 
The Gloucester Old Spot has established a reputation locally as a friendly community pub and owner Amy Devenish contacted Goldies about hosting a regular session.
 
Goldies sessions reach out to all cultures and founder Grenville Jones is always keen to underline the fact that Goldies is NOT about choir singing. The songs are the memory evoking popular tunes of the 60s onwards and chosen by the folk who attend across Wales and England.
  
As the charity has grown, sessions have been added that particularly address the issue of people living with Dementia and their Carers. There are also many sessions across England and Wales specifically for Adults with Learning Difficulties. It is estimated that over 4,000 people attend Goldies each month. 
  
Under the heading Goldies Cymru sessions have developed year on year across South Wales supported by the brilliant Moondance Foundation and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Wales. Song books are produced in Welsh and there is a Welsh Language website goldiescymru.org.uk
  
The Goldies website is www.golden-oldies.org.uk
 
ENDS
 
ALL enquiries to Grenville on 07778 282934.
 
Pictures show a Goldies SING&SMILE session and the PUB sign.
 

​PRESS RELEASE
 
Monday 24 February 2020
 
SING&SMILE with the ‘Goldies’ Charity
 
A charity that puts smiles on the faces of older isolated people is launching at the Kirkgate Centre in mid-March with its FUN daytime Sing&Smile sessions on Monday March 9. 
 
The Golden-Oldies Charity, more fondly known simply as ‘Goldies’, started in the West of England 12 years ago. The founder is Grenville Jones who is well known nationally as a choir leader who has appeared on radio and television many times. Grenville however is always anxious to point out that his charity is NOT about choir singing!
 
Grenville will take the session himself at the Kirkgate Centre. He’s a man with local connections as his late parents both grew up in Bradford ‘moving south’ in the 1940s. Grenville said;
 
“From just four sessions back in 2008 we now have over 200 across England and Wales. 
 
“The session at the Kirkgate Centre will be from 10.30am to 11.30am and I warmly invite everyone to come along and discover the fun in a Sing&Smile Goldies session. I guarantee you will leave with a smile on your face! Please come and discover Goldies.”
 
The sessions are based on the memory-evoking songs of the 60s onwards and the charity Patron is Sir Cliff Richard. To find out more you can visit the charity website www.golden-oldies.org.uk or go along to the Kirkgate Centre, 39a Kirkgate, Shipley BD18 3EH on Monday March 9, everyone is welcome.
 
ENDS
 
Caption : Songs and Smiles with ‘Goldies’.
 
Press enquiries to Grenville Jones on 07778 282934.
 
 

 
Elderly care provider, Elder spoke to Grenville Jones, choirmaster of Golden Oldies. When he set up the first Golden Oldies in 2007, he had no idea that his singing groups for older people would take off so successfully. With over 200 regular sessions now held across the UK, “Goldies” as it’s known, provides a sociable and relaxed place for singers and non-singers to meet and enjoy themselves. We talked to Grenville about the positive power of making music together at any level.
 
How did you come to set up Goldies?
My background is as a choir leader and I've taken evening choirs for a long time - one of my choirs is the Bath Male Choir, which got to the finals of the BBC’s Last Choir Standing.
 
In 2007 I watched a Channel Four programme called Young at Heart, which featured an American choir for older people. It was very moving and I remember one part where the choir went to a prison and sang to some pretty serious criminals who were crying as they listened.
 
 
“There’s a reluctance to step across the doorstep and a temptation to just put the television on. We’re giving people the opportunity to be sociable – with a good old-fashioned sing-along”
 
 
Not long after, I was talking to a friend and renowned choir leader about singing and we were discussing the best part of a rehearsal. We both agreed that it was the atmosphere at the end, when everyone is packing up to go home. People are usually laughing and having fun at this point in the atmosphere that comes from making music together. 
 
It occurred to me there was an opportunity to take that atmosphere and drop it into community rooms and church halls and other places where people meet during the week, so I decided to start a charity.
 
We had support from Bath Housing Association for the first four sessions, which I took myself. Two ladies who lived in sheltered housing nearby turned up to one of the first - and probably only came because they had nothing else to do.
 
A friend asked me how it went, and I said, “I think it went well, but I'm not sure people will come and if they do then who is going to take all the sessions? How could it go forward and succeed and develop? And my friend said,” If you have faith in it, it will work.” I remember that clearly. Now, years later, we run over 200 regular sessions across England and Wales and have 67 session leaders.
 
What is the aim of Goldies?
There are so many older people who live isolated lives and have so little to look forward to in society today. I believe that governments do, generally speaking, care for older people in their homes reasonably well, but there are no social activities anymore. It’s left for people like me and other wonderful organisations to fill that gap.
 
There’s a reluctance to step across the doorstep and a temptation to just put the television on – and figures show that 51 percent of people say the only company they have is the TV on a daily basis. We’re trying to give people the opportunity to be sociable – with a good old-fashioned sing-along.
 
 
Who is the typical Goldie?
If you had asked me all those years ago to describe the “typical Goldie” I would probably have said, ‘likely to be an elderly lady, now widowed, who doesn’t have many opportunities to get out and be with other people.”
 
Of course, that has changed as we have grown - now it's also those in early stage dementia who come to special memory sessions with our memory books, or adults with learning difficulties who come to sing, as well as our traditional attendees. A young lady with depression has joined one of our sessions in Wales because the folk there are so full of fun. It's the highlight of her week - and she's got 50 aunties and uncles who care for her and look forward to seeing her every week.
 
And of course, we also have a schools intergenerational programme now– for which we won the National Lottery Education award last year - a major achievement for a small charity. In the beginning I would never would have thought that we'd have reached out to people with those sort of issues - but Goldies is for everyone.
 
Why do you not consider Goldies to be a choir?
I always say that Goldies is not a choir – because you don't have to be a singer to come to a session. It’s a bit like going to your pub and joining in when someone starts playing songs on the piano, and we base sessions on the music of the 60s and 70s - which takes people back to happier times and brings them joy.
 
I led a session years ago in Swindon where we were singing The Wonder of You by Elvis. A couple was sitting in the corner and the husband was obviously in the early stages of dementia and had no light in his eyes. When we started singing though, the light came on again all of a sudden - and I saw him singing to her and her singing to him.
 
At the end of the song he wrapped his arms around her, and they had a huge kiss – for them was a magical moment. A few months later he passed on and the family got in touch to say that when the wife came home from that session, she had told her family about how he had come alive to this song.
 
Perhaps that was one of his favourite songs or perhaps he was an Elvis fan? I can't explain that really - but that song reached through all the fog and brought him back to life – and I can explain the privilege of being able to make that happen. The power of singing is well documented now – and we're not the only organisation to help people with isolation through music. But I think we are fairly unique in the way that we deliver our sessions which are open to everyone.
 
How do the sessions work?
The sessions are monthly, and can be held in a community room or other gathering place. People sit round tables or in circles - every session has its own way of doing things.
 
The session leader hands out the song books, which we have as a deliberate policy because reading the songs from the book exercises the brain. We ask the people who come to choose the songs for our song books every year and suggest songs that they'd like to sing. The session leader will then ask the group what they fancy starting off with, and some might say Hi Ho Silver Lining or a bit of Tom Jones.
 
“Goldies is not a choir – because you don't have to be a singer to join in. It’s a bit like going to your pub and joining in when someone starts playing songs on the piano…”
 
Then those who love to sing will sing, and others not - but after about thirty minutes someone will ask for Dancing Queen or another lively song and some people will start to dance. By the end of 60 minutes the room is buzzing, full of laughter and joking and everyone always leaves the session with a smile on their face.
 
How do you find volunteers to lead the sessions?
Generally, session leaders find us - I don't know how that happens. Personally, I think it's a bit of divine intervention.
 
You need to be fairly extrovert to be a session leader -  not everyone can stand up in front of a group of people. And we have session leaders who are singers and sing in a gospel choir community choir for example, but also people who aren’t singers and just care a lot about what we do.
 
When we start a new session, we might put an advertisement in the local paper to say we're looking for session leaders which sometimes gets a response. More often than not though, the session leaders come to us because they may have bought their mum or dad to a session, or perhaps seen Goldies at a local school.
 
Cliff Richard is your patron - did you know him beforehand?
I knew from the outset of the charity that he was the person I would want, because of what he stands for in his outlook and his beliefs and because he'd witnessed dementia first-hand with members of his own family. So, I wrote to him a few times and eventually had a message back to say he had agreed to be our patron.
 
I met him a few years ago when he was doing a show up in the Midlands. I took a group of Goldies with me and we went backstage, where he came and chatted to them - and then let us watch the band’s warm up on the stage, which was great.
 
How would you like Goldies to develop in the next few years?
London is our big challenge. I always knew that one day taking Goldies into the capital would come as a request. But to do that wouldn’t be about setting up five sessions, or 50 –it is more like 150 sessions and I only have one full time member of staff.
 
North Wales is another area we want to develop into, and we've had a huge amount of lottery support there. And generally, across the UK I’d like the 200 sessions to be 500…and why shouldn’t they be? If we have 67 session leaders now, then why not 200? I believe in life that if you want something you have to work hard to make it happen and persevere…
 
This article first appeared on Elder, a solution providing an alternative to residential care home by providing access to first rate live-in care, elderly care and dementia care. You can read more interviews from Elder’s Magazine here.
 
//ENDS//
 
 

PRESS RELEASE
Thursday 16 May 2019
 
More Songs – More Smiles
 
“I don’t know what I would do without Goldies. It keeps me going, it really does.”
 
That’s just one of the 100s of comments from one elderly lady who loves attending her Goldies sing-along session. 
 
NOT a choir, the Golden-Oldies Charity, now in its twelfth year, reaches out to older isolated people across England and Wales. From the initial four sessions taken by founder Grenville Jones, in and around Bath, there are now over 60 dedicated session leaders and, by the end of 2019, there will be at least 200 regular FUN daytime Goldies sessions.
 
With the support of many Trusts, Foundations and local supporters many new sessions will be added in the months ahead.
 
In Swindon, with the support of the Borough Council, there are a number of regular sessions and a new monthly group tuned-up on Thursday May 16 at the Toothill Community Centre in Swindon. On that same day another new session started in Bath at the Salvation Army coffee shop in Green Park. 
 
Across the South West; new leader Becky takes over Calne Goldies group and will soon launch two new Wiltshire sessions. In Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire four new groups will start next month.
 
Additional sessions are being held with the Clevedon Happy Companions Club in North Somerset and Chard Library in South Somerset.
 
In Bath & North East Somerset a Memory Café in Bath was recently started at St Michael’s Church in the City Centre. There are also two new sessions at Church Court, Midsomer Norton and Kingfisher Lodge Care Centre in Saltford.
 
In Bristol a Goldies Day took place in April with over 100 people at St George, Bristol. Still in Bristol, two introductory sessions are planned for May and June at Stoke Bishop. Sessions are also planned for Bedminster and Patchway to raise the profile of the charity across the City. 
 
A recent academic study of the work of the Golden-Oldies charity concluded;
 
“Goldies is very important in bringing isolated people in the community together, especially those who live on their own. By attending a session 93% of participants said they feel more involved in knowing their community.” 
 
Heading South, in Devon Goldies is supported by Exeter City Council and the Darlington Charitable Trust, with plans for many additional sessions in the coming months working in partnership with Age Concern.
 
Goldies recently expanded into Cornwall where sessions now take place at eight Memory Cafes. More are planned by the close of 2019.
 
In Yorkshire more daytime singing is planned with a recent new addition in Eldwick and more to follow. 
 
Goldies sessions have been taking place in the Midlands for the last five years. With special thanks to Doveridge PCC Goldies continues to develop across Staffordshire and Derbyshire with a new session launched recently in Rugeley.
 
With the support of The Mercers’ Company, Essex County Council and the Essex Community Foundation the Goldies Charity is developing its work across North East London and the county of Essex. New sessions in Clacton, Harlow, Chelmsford, Rayleigh, Dunmow, Tiptree, Maldon, Canvey Island, Hawkwell and Southend will tune-up soon.
 
IN WALES…
 
Goldies Cymru was launched by Grenville Jones seven years ago, it has made tremendous progress with the support of the Cardiff-based Moondance Foundation and with major grants from the Wales National Lottery Community Fund and Wales Heritage Fund.
 
By the end of 2019 there will be 70 sessions across South Wales with plans to extend and introduce more sessions in North Wales in 2020. There are 18 dedicated session leaders in Wales.
 
Recent new sessions in Wales include Cowbridge, Newcastle Emlyn, Swansea Central Library, Porthcawl, Llanishen Hub - Cardiff and Lampeter. We have recently started working with LLandough Hospital in The Vale of Glamorgan on the Elderley Persons Ward as well as The Dementia Unit.
 
A new popular Bollywood session in Cardiff has started. Goldies Cymru has close links with the Stroke Association and the National Institute for the Blind and brings Songs and Smiles to increasing numbers of community Libraries.
 
Goldies also has an award-winning primary schools intergenerational programme. It won the Education Category of the National Lottery Awards in 2018, an amazing achievement for a small charity. Later this year Goldies will launch its new primary schools heritage project called, ‘Back to School’.
 
“As we have developed over the years our growth has included sessions for adults with learning difficulties as well as addressing the memory-evoking importance of music and singing to those who are living with Dementia.
 
“We owe a huge vote of thanks to all those organisations who have financially supported our journey and look forward to hitting the 300 Goldies session target by the end of 2020,” said Founder Grenville Jones.
 
ENDS
 
Photo Caption : Reaching out to older people with Songs & Smiles – Goldies.
 
Press enquiries to Grenville Jones on 07778 282934.
www.golden-oldies.org.uk
 

PRESS RELEASE
Wednesday May 1, 2019
 
Meet Noodle the Goldies Labradoodle!
 
A very special 10th birthday will be celebrated in Swindon on Thursday May 16. The Golden-Oldies Charity, more fondly known as ‘Goldies’, started in the Town 10 years ago.
 
Venue is Toothill Community Centre, Village Centre, Swindon SN5 8DH from 10.30am-12.00pm.
 
Goldies is all about fun daytime Songs & Smiles for older people, many who may live in isolation. Based on the popular memory-evoking songs of the 50s and onwards, Goldies sessions have grown across Swindon in the past 10 years supported by Swindon Borough Council.
 
Many are led by Alison Dawn, a well-known local singer whose devotion to the charity has paid a great part to its progress. Alison has a very supportive helper – her Labradoodle called Noodle – who the folk attending all the sessions love to see when he arrives with Alison to take each session.
 
Apart from daytime weekly sessions in sheltered housing community rooms there is also a monthly sing at Coleview Community Centre on the first Thursday of each month from 10.30am-11.30am. The new monthly session will be at the Toothill Community Centre on the third Thursday of each month from 10.30am-11.30am.
 
Grenville Jones is the founder of the Goldies Charity, born and bred in Swindon himself he has taken the charity on its exciting journey to the point where today it runs nearly 200 Sing & Smile sessions across England and Wales as well as an award-winning schools intergenerational programme. He is a regular face on TV, most recently as one of the ‘100’ judges on the BBC Saturday night ‘All Together Now’ series.
 
There will be over 190 Sing & Smile sessions across England and Wales by the end of 2019.
 
Grenville says;
 
“Alison is one of our brilliant session leaders. The folk attending the session simply love to go along and they always make a fuss of Noodle who has become very much part of our Swindon Goldies team – yes he’s a definitely a Goldies Labradoodle!”
 
Alison added;
 
“Our sessions give the folk something to look forward to, a week can be a very long time in a lonely life. By bringing everyone together regularly friendships & bonds are strong, this is so important for older folk. The opportunities to make friends & enjoy  company lessen with age.
 
“Many things we take for granted as younger able people. If you imagine for a moment all the daily opportunities we have to socialise being gone, you will realise how extremely important our sessions are to our Swindon Goldies. My weekly sheltered accommodation sessions are in particular a lifeline to many of the attendees.
 
“And Noodle has made so many new friends!”
 
ENDS
 
Image shows Alison Dawn with her Labradoodle, Noodle.
 
Press enquiries to Grenville Jones on 07778 282934.
 
here to edit.

PRESS RELEASE
 
Monday 18 March 2018
 
Goldies goes Bollywood
   
They are the SING&SMILE charity reaching across South Wales with fun-packed daytime singing sessions for older people.
  
Starting on Thursday evening April 4 from 6-7pm a new Goldies Cymru session based on Bollywood music and dance will take place at Penylan Library in the community centre.
  
It is supported by the Cardiff-based Moondance Foundation and will be taken by Amruta Garud who is well known for her work with older people from the Indian community across South Wales.
  
Originally from India, Amruta moved to Cardiff 9 years ago. She is qualified and an experienced Indian Classical Music Teacher and an examiner. She believes music has no language other than love!
 
“Goldies” as it is more fondly known is NOT a choir but instead brings people together to sing the popular hits of the 50s and onwards through its increasing number of sessions across Wales and its award-winning schools intergenerational programmes.
  
Rachel Parry is Goldies Cymru programme leader, she said;
  
“We are delighted that Amruta has joined our increasing number of session leaders. We are hoping to introduce Bollywood sessions with her at many of our existing sessions in the months ahead.
  
”We are going to have some wonderful times dancing gently to Bollywood music and learning new steps. The music is uplifting and beautiful. Amruta is clearly very experienced and we are confident that these sessions will be extremely successful.”
  
For more information contact: Rachel Parry on 07796 714816 or e-mail rachel@goldiescymru.org.uk
 
ENDS
 
Originally from India, Amruta Garud moved to Cardiff 9 years ago. She is qualified experienced Indian Classical Music Teacher and an examiner. She believes Music has no language other than love!
 
Press enquiries to either Rachel Parry on 07796 714816 or Goldies Founder Grenville Jones on 07778 282934.

A FANTASTIC GOLDIES DAY OUT
​
Hundreds of our ‘Goldies’ headed for Port Talbot and the Princess Royal Theatre on Tuesday November 6th for our very special Goldies Day with a WW1 theme. This day was made possible with the support of the Big Lottery Fund in Wales and the Heritage Lottery. It was a day of songs and smiles with our Goldies Cymru session leaders led by Rachel Parry on stage leading the sing-alongs, the Ukulele Nights and the brilliant Central Primary School children on stage in the morning singing songs and reciting poems from 100 years ago.
 
Everyone was treated with a 45 minute performance on stage in the afternoon of the Armistice Cantata. This of course is the Goldies Award-Winning project from the children at Thornhill Primary School, Cardiff. Winners of the Education Category in the 2018 National Lottery Awards.
 
Another memorable day for Goldies Cymru and huge thanks to everyone including the team at the Princess Royal Theatre, together everyone contributed to a very special day as you will see from our pictures taken by Bill Savage.