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<v Speaker 1>Hello, I'm Ray Lee and this is the Gillingham Podcast

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<v Speaker 1>for anyone living in the Gillingham and Spa area.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm talking to award winning vocal coach and founder of

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<v Speaker 2>the Rocket Choir Mark James. When did you start the choir?

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<v Speaker 3>Mark?

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<v Speaker 4>I think I started it in two thousand and eighteen

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<v Speaker 4>Septemb twenty eighteen, So yes, with the notes, this is

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<v Speaker 4>our eighth year.

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<v Speaker 2>No lovely yea And what's your musical background?

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<v Speaker 4>Well, I was the kid at school that was told

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<v Speaker 4>not to bother do music because it's not my thing.

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<v Speaker 4>So I just grew up. Basically, I went to see

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<v Speaker 4>lame Is when I was eight years old, and when

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<v Speaker 4>that's what I want to do for a living, That's

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<v Speaker 4>what I want to be when I grow up. And

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<v Speaker 4>then is that whole thing of if you don't have

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<v Speaker 4>the right people sort of like showing you how to

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<v Speaker 4>do it and going from there. So I didn't get

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<v Speaker 4>into it until I was really late, and it wasn't

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<v Speaker 4>until I was about mid twenties when I started doing

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<v Speaker 4>amateur dramatics and I went for a role and they went, oh,

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<v Speaker 4>he's all right, you can sing a bit, which I'd

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<v Speaker 4>always loved singing and I've always done some bits and pieces,

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<v Speaker 4>but yeah, I went from sort of like doing like

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<v Speaker 4>amateur dramatics to people going, oh, can you come and

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<v Speaker 4>do some stuff for us, and that kind of that

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<v Speaker 4>kind of work from there, and then people would offer

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<v Speaker 4>me a bit of paid work. And then I was

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<v Speaker 4>doing a gig with a duo that I knew, which

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<v Speaker 4>I met on line, and they asked who I trained with,

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<v Speaker 4>and I said, well, I haven't trained at all, and

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<v Speaker 4>they said, well, we need to get you training because

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<v Speaker 4>if that's where you are without training, we need to.

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<v Speaker 4>So I then went to go and see somebody in yoga,

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<v Speaker 4>and I trained privately and I qualified as a musical

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<v Speaker 4>theater singer, so I got diplomas in musical theater. Unfortunately,

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<v Speaker 4>he passed away really soon after I got those, so

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<v Speaker 4>I went through other bits and pieces and one of

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<v Speaker 4>the things that he told me was to always make

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<v Speaker 4>sure you keep on training. So I kept on training

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<v Speaker 4>and I found a specialist voice college. So I then

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<v Speaker 4>went on and trained to be a singing teacher, like

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<v Speaker 4>properly because my kids were young at the time, so

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<v Speaker 4>I couldn't go out and do the performance side of things.

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<v Speaker 4>And I got loads of qualifications in that through the

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<v Speaker 4>Voice College when I then became a tutor with them

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<v Speaker 4>as well, and then it just sort of like snowballed

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<v Speaker 4>from there.

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<v Speaker 3>Really.

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<v Speaker 4>I then got some TV gigs and I was working

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<v Speaker 4>on TV, and then after that, when my kids got

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<v Speaker 4>older and Smellia I went off and I went off

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<v Speaker 4>and started doing my own performing thing as well and

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<v Speaker 4>running the choirs.

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<v Speaker 3>So it's I've been a gradual build.

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<v Speaker 4>It's one of those things that once you're if you

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<v Speaker 4>if you've got music, or if you've got that creative

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<v Speaker 4>itch inside you. It's not like an office job. If

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<v Speaker 4>you do an office job, you can do an office

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<v Speaker 4>job and you'd sort of come home. You put away

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<v Speaker 4>when you're When you're creative, there's something in you that itches,

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<v Speaker 4>and if you're not doing it, you will always find

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<v Speaker 4>some way to do that. So I think that's what

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<v Speaker 4>it was, even though at school it was something I

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<v Speaker 4>always wanted to do. And unfortunately again when we when

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<v Speaker 4>I went to secondary school after primary school, there was

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<v Speaker 4>no outlet. There was no music department of such, there

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<v Speaker 4>was definitely no drama department. It was an all boys school.

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<v Speaker 4>It was a comprehensive. We had all failed eleven pluses,

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<v Speaker 4>so there was no sort of like way to find

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<v Speaker 4>where that that expression yeah would come from. So it's

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<v Speaker 4>sort of like all led from there, if you like.

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<v Speaker 4>So there was always I was always looking for that,

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<v Speaker 4>those ways to be able to to get that, to

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<v Speaker 4>get that sort of creativity out, and it just eventually

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<v Speaker 4>managed to come out, and I managed to find a

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<v Speaker 4>way of being able to make a living from it

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<v Speaker 4>as well.

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<v Speaker 2>So how many members you've got now with Rocket?

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<v Speaker 5>Yeah?

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<v Speaker 4>So we've just opened our fourth choir in Sturmus and

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<v Speaker 4>Newton on a Monday, So along with the other three,

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<v Speaker 4>which is Gillingham, Blandford and Wincanton, we're up to around

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<v Speaker 4>about one hundred and eighty six members now, which when

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<v Speaker 4>we started on the very first night we had forty

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<v Speaker 4>four people walking through the door, and then we had

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<v Speaker 4>regular numbers of about thirty, which I thought was really

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<v Speaker 4>really good. So to be where we are now is

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<v Speaker 4>is yeah amazing, amazing.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah amazing. Is it? Is it a serious choir? No?

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<v Speaker 3>Not all No, I don't do serious no.

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<v Speaker 4>So it's it's the idea of Rocket is it's supposed

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<v Speaker 4>to be there for anyone that wants to come along

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<v Speaker 4>and enjoy music and anyone that wants to just have

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<v Speaker 4>a bit of a laugh with it. We put the

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<v Speaker 4>emphasis on having a bit fun. They still make a

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<v Speaker 4>really good, really good sound, and everyone will it's really

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<v Speaker 4>hard to be able to create that. But what we

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<v Speaker 4>don't do is put the pressure on. Nobody gets shouted

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<v Speaker 4>at for getting it wrong. Nobody will ever get told

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<v Speaker 4>off if they get the words wrong or anything like that.

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<v Speaker 4>And we also don't sort of like, we don't have

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<v Speaker 4>this what serious choirs have, So we don't use sheet music.

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<v Speaker 3>It's all used in guide tracks.

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<v Speaker 4>So it's a way that anybody that wants to get

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<v Speaker 4>involved can come along and get involved with and just

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<v Speaker 4>have fun with it.

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<v Speaker 2>And the choir has done quite a bit of charity work.

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<v Speaker 3>Over the time.

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<v Speaker 4>Don't like to talking about the charity work obviously, you know,

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<v Speaker 4>or the charity work we've done.

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<v Speaker 3>No, yeah, we have.

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<v Speaker 4>I think we're coming close to now around about twenty

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<v Speaker 4>thousand pounds that we've raised for charity.

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<v Speaker 3>So yeah, So we we started.

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<v Speaker 4>Off doing little bits and pieces, won't it When we

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<v Speaker 4>first started for local causes like the local carnival and

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<v Speaker 4>bits and pieces like that. So we did a concept

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<v Speaker 4>for Ukraine and we we were really really sort of

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<v Speaker 4>like stunned. We raised over a thousand poundful that I

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<v Speaker 4>think it was, it was coming up to about nineteen

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<v Speaker 4>hundred pounds we raised for that one in the end.

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<v Speaker 3>And then after that, a year after that, there.

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<v Speaker 4>Was the earthquake in Turkey, which obviously hit everyone, some

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<v Speaker 4>people in the local community that were from Turkey, and

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<v Speaker 4>we were sort of like talking to them, so we

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<v Speaker 4>actually raised more money again and we ended up with

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<v Speaker 4>about two and a half thousand pounds for the Turkey apial.

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<v Speaker 4>So that's I've got everything going. And then unfortunately a

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<v Speaker 4>few years ago one of our one of our choir

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<v Speaker 4>members in Blamford lost his son who took his own life.

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<v Speaker 4>Which one of the things I'm really really proud about

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<v Speaker 4>with the choir is that they all support each other

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<v Speaker 4>and everyone sort of comes together. There's no clicks, there's

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<v Speaker 4>no bitchiness or anything like that. It is just one

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<v Speaker 4>big sort of like group of people that comes together.

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<v Speaker 4>Really yeah, and that that's across all choirs as well.

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<v Speaker 4>So once we say you remember a rocket, you remember

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<v Speaker 4>of all of rocket, not just one of the groups.

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<v Speaker 4>So everyone sort of came together and we did this

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<v Speaker 4>concert for in Ben's name, and for that one we

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<v Speaker 4>did it for bad CO. We set a target of

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<v Speaker 4>one thousand pounds for that one, and the idea is

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<v Speaker 4>that for every three hundred pound we made it got us,

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<v Speaker 4>it got us one person through counseling. At the at

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<v Speaker 4>the end of the night, by the time that everything

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<v Speaker 4>had come in, we'd raised over three thousand pounds. So

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<v Speaker 4>that was when we put it into that's ten people

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<v Speaker 4>that went through through counseling because of that, and so

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<v Speaker 4>that for us was was, you know, set us on

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<v Speaker 4>a journey. And we've done other bits and pieces since then.

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<v Speaker 4>Some of the choir have gone off and done other

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<v Speaker 4>charity work for it as well on their own. And

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<v Speaker 4>then it it came to two three years ago we

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<v Speaker 4>did a charity ceed for bad CO, which actually the

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<v Speaker 4>choir funded themselves, so they paid for all the rights

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<v Speaker 4>of the music and everything else that we needed, so

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<v Speaker 4>that when it went on sale, all the profit from

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<v Speaker 4>the charity from the sales of the CD went directly

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<v Speaker 4>the charity. And again that one raised over one thousand

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<v Speaker 4>pounds just just.

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<v Speaker 3>From the CDs.

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<v Speaker 4>So yeah, so that and then, you know, and then

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<v Speaker 4>we've just always sort of like found charities that have

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<v Speaker 4>meant stuff to the choir and they've been able to

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<v Speaker 4>attach themselves to it, which has made us want to

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<v Speaker 4>do more for it. Things like Julia's house when unfortunately

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<v Speaker 4>my cousin who was really she was she wasn't even

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<v Speaker 4>a teenager and she passed away, we did a race

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<v Speaker 4>night and raised money for her. And more recently we

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<v Speaker 4>unfortunately lost one of our choir members to her heart condition,

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<v Speaker 4>and she was really really keen to talk about Cardiact

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<v Speaker 4>risk and the young or cry the charity. And so

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<v Speaker 4>in a couple of weeks on the eleventh of April,

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<v Speaker 4>we've got a charity concert for or for Claire.

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<v Speaker 3>It is called the.

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<v Speaker 4>Win Canton Together, and it's the Claire Language Memorial Concert.

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<v Speaker 4>And we've got all the all the different groups in

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<v Speaker 4>win Canton coming together, like the Silver Band, We've got

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<v Speaker 4>the we've got the Youth Theater, we've got the Core Society.

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<v Speaker 4>So they're all coming together to basically raise money for

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<v Speaker 4>christ so that we can do in her memory what

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<v Speaker 4>she wanted to happen, which is which is really you know,

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<v Speaker 4>which is really really lovely.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, I'm going to play a track now from the Charity.

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<v Speaker 5>C D.

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<v Speaker 6>Don't happen. They like there's no mony that.

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<v Speaker 3>Ve so.

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<v Speaker 6>They take.

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<v Speaker 5>Let's just thinking about being out without the same way

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<v Speaker 5>that same sad a ring this is sounds sound, so

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<v Speaker 5>they don't like using silent.

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<v Speaker 6>Let's me know that song you saying, don't say as

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<v Speaker 6>you're a fan, you don't not tap nothing for you.

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<v Speaker 6>They'll not tea the place they are all people like

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<v Speaker 6>you that a table save the south, just so that

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<v Speaker 6>would be something inside.

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<v Speaker 5>You'll be a lot to the robing have been robby

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<v Speaker 5>this sasside beside, so they're gonna be a taking sound.

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<v Speaker 5>Ask me now that so say say you know not

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<v Speaker 5>same as mask thereck the kay were locking away the

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<v Speaker 5>love ways so sid show itself.

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<v Speaker 6>M music inside as we got that song.

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<v Speaker 5>Writing say no sames you shot side.

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<v Speaker 2>That was don't just sing it rocket from the Charity

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<v Speaker 2>c D. Rocket around the Christmas tree and that was

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<v Speaker 2>in a bad cot And I understand it's still available

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<v Speaker 2>on your website.

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<v Speaker 4>It is Yeah, you can go on to uh yeah,

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<v Speaker 4>should I do my best radio bos good? So it's

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<v Speaker 4>www dot rocket choir dot com. That's r O K

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<v Speaker 4>I T Rocket choir dot com.

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<v Speaker 3>Sorry, more recently, you've.

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<v Speaker 2>Done a couple of flash mobs at some wedding fairs

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<v Speaker 2>we have.

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<v Speaker 3>They went well.

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<v Speaker 4>I don't know if the people listening will understand what

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<v Speaker 4>a flash mob is, because it could sound a little

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<v Speaker 4>bit sort of like wrong. A flash mob is basically

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<v Speaker 4>when you have one person starting to sing, which nobody's expecting,

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<v Speaker 4>and then all of a sudden, more and more people

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<v Speaker 4>turn up and then you end up with a room

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<v Speaker 4>full of people singing. So we did one at the

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<v Speaker 4>wedding fair in Stone It's Newton at the Exchange and

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<v Speaker 4>that one was the first one that well, we've we've

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<v Speaker 4>done them before pre pandemic, and we did one when

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<v Speaker 4>we first started in win Canton at a Christmas fair,

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<v Speaker 4>but this these are the biggest ones we've done. So

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<v Speaker 4>the one that we did at the Exchange actually started

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<v Speaker 4>at the bottom and the bottom floor and we worked

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<v Speaker 4>our way right the way through the exchange, up the stairs,

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<v Speaker 4>into the cafe and then into the big theater. So

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<v Speaker 4>we started off with one soloist and by the time

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<v Speaker 4>that finished we had over one hundred people singing in

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<v Speaker 4>the main theater. So that was that was phenomenal listening

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<v Speaker 4>to that and then this Saturday or this Sunday just gone,

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<v Speaker 4>we were asked to do it again at the Crown

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<v Speaker 4>Hotel in Blamford, and again it was one person started

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<v Speaker 4>singing and by the end of that one we had

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<v Speaker 4>about eighty eighty to ninety people singing at the end,

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<v Speaker 4>which is always great. The only people I feel sorry

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<v Speaker 4>for are the traders because all these traders suddenly see

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<v Speaker 4>the place getting busy, thinking they're going to have loads

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<v Speaker 4>and loads of business coming in, and then everyone starts

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<v Speaker 4>singing at them and then they just walk away so

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<v Speaker 4>they see their profits. That I die away straight away,

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<v Speaker 4>But now all the other people seem to enjoy it

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<v Speaker 4>and had.

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<v Speaker 3>A bit of a laugh.

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<v Speaker 2>So you got some gigs coming up in the summer. Yes,

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<v Speaker 2>Shafty Fringe again.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah we are. We're back at the Fringe. So we again.

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<v Speaker 4>Last year we were raising money for badco. We raised

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<v Speaker 4>two hundred and fifty pounds for Bacco last year. This

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<v Speaker 4>year we're going to go back. We haven't chosen the

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<v Speaker 4>charity yet, so we'll do it again for charity and

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<v Speaker 4>we tend to use that as a bit of a

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<v Speaker 4>warm up for our summer concert, so we get where

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<v Speaker 4>the choirs can come together sing some of the songs,

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<v Speaker 4>and then it's the week after we'll be doing our

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<v Speaker 4>main summer concert at the Exchange again in Stuminster at

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<v Speaker 4>the end of July. That's the end of July. That's right,

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<v Speaker 4>it's the last Saturday July. Last year we had ninety

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<v Speaker 4>people on the stage singing, and this year we're hoping

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<v Speaker 4>to have well, we're hoping to have in excess of

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<v Speaker 4>one hundred people all singing together to go from there,

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<v Speaker 4>and we've got an amazing special act coming down. We've

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<v Speaker 4>got opera Leiley who are a comedy opera ukulele duo

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<v Speaker 4>who don't There's just no real way to describe what

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<v Speaker 4>they do. You've got to see it to believe it.

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<v Speaker 4>But at the same time, they are phenomenally talented and

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<v Speaker 4>really really funny is that they're those type of people

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<v Speaker 4>that will make you just absolutely cry with laughter, but

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<v Speaker 4>at the same time will make you go wow. They're

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<v Speaker 4>brilliant with their voices as well. So you know, both

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<v Speaker 4>George and Manda, you know, friends of mine, and every

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<v Speaker 4>time I hear them sing and perform, I always just

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<v Speaker 4>hate them because they're too good.

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<v Speaker 2>So do you have you any ambitions now for the Rocket.

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, there's always ambitions. I mean I've never I've never

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<v Speaker 4>really set a plan of where I want to be

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<v Speaker 4>because I find the plans can get dismissed or they

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<v Speaker 4>can get pushed down, and if you do that, then

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<v Speaker 4>you you can get a little bit disheartened by it.

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<v Speaker 4>What I what I like to do is look for opportunities.

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<v Speaker 4>So I look for where the best opportunities are, and

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<v Speaker 4>when I see an opportunity, we run with it. And

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<v Speaker 4>so I think a lot more performing Definitely, We've got

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<v Speaker 4>more and more people coming in now, so it gives

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<v Speaker 4>us the opportunity to be able to do more parts,

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<v Speaker 4>more complicated songs. We've We've got a really good reputation

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<v Speaker 4>in the area for fun, you know, for fun songs,

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<v Speaker 4>and forgetting an audience involved. If anyone comes to a

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<v Speaker 4>Rocket concert for the first time, they don't really know

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<v Speaker 4>what they're letting themselves in for. Because it's not just

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<v Speaker 4>a case that you will sit down in the audience

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<v Speaker 4>and watch people singing at you, you know, for two hours.

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<v Speaker 4>The audience will get involved. We want people to have fun,

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<v Speaker 4>we want them to be part of the choir as well.

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<v Speaker 4>At one point. At last summer concert, we had an

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<v Speaker 4>audience of three hundred people and we turned the three

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<v Speaker 4>hundred people in the audience plus one hundred people on

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<v Speaker 4>the stage into one big choir. So it's really the

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<v Speaker 4>ambition is really just that and just keep on going

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<v Speaker 4>and spreading it as much as we can and giving

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<v Speaker 4>as much joy to people in the local community from

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<v Speaker 4>you know, Gillingham, Wincanton, Blamford, sturmuson Newton. Just give everyone

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<v Speaker 4>the opportunity that wants to take part in music. Just

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<v Speaker 4>you know, go from there and that doesn't matter. Seventy

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<v Speaker 4>percent of the people that come along to Rockets say

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<v Speaker 4>they can't sing. That's the first thing they say to

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<v Speaker 4>me when they come in, Oh, you know, I can't sing.

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<v Speaker 4>And then when they suddenly realize what they can do

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<v Speaker 4>when they're surrounded by a group of people and they

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<v Speaker 4>have that, they have that safety in.

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<v Speaker 3>Numbers, you know.

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<v Speaker 4>And that's what Rocket's about. That's what I love about

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<v Speaker 4>my job. It's taking somebody that says, oh, I can't

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<v Speaker 4>do that, and then going you just did. That's that's

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<v Speaker 4>the best part. So I would say that the the

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<v Speaker 4>the aim for Rocket going forward is to make more

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<v Speaker 4>people feel that way, biant, because that's that's what it's

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<v Speaker 4>all about.

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<v Speaker 2>So anybody interested enjoining the best way to get in.

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<v Speaker 3>Touch, so you can go on to our website.

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<v Speaker 4>So it's www dot Rocket Choir dot com. Yes, so

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<v Speaker 4>you can get to go on there. You can have

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<v Speaker 4>a little bit of a look to see what we're

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<v Speaker 4>what we're about. You can also find us on Facebook

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<v Speaker 4>and also on Instagram as well, so there's the main

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<v Speaker 4>Rocket Choirs pages, but we've also got as well. There's

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<v Speaker 4>on the Facebook pages. There's one for each of the

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<v Speaker 4>different choirs. So if you want to see what's going

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<v Speaker 4>on with that, or if you want to you can

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<v Speaker 4>just turn up on the night, come along and take part.

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<v Speaker 4>It's seven pounds a night, so it's not expensive.

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<v Speaker 3>Pays you go.

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<v Speaker 4>You don't have to come every week because I know

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<v Speaker 4>that sometimes life gets in the way. It's absolutely fine.

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<v Speaker 4>It's just about coming along, finding your voice, having a

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<v Speaker 4>bit of fun, making a few friends and having a giggle.

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<v Speaker 2>Well that's great, Well, thanks so much for your time.

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<v Speaker 3>I promise, thank you very much.

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<v Speaker 2>I having by.

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<v Speaker 1>If you're a member of a group or organization that

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<v Speaker 1>would like to be featured on the Future Killing and podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Then you can email me at Killingham Podcast at gmail

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<v Speaker 1>dot com. Thanks for listening, O