We meet for Rehearsal at Holy Trinity Church, Belbroughton, each Friday.

Children arrive at 6.30pm, and for the first half-hour have their own practice, following the Royal School of Church Music’s “Voice for Life” training scheme.

Adults arrive promptly at 7 pm, and the whole Choir rehearses together until 7.45 pm.

From 7.45 pm for fifteen or twenty minutes only, those who sing Alto, Tenor and Bass stay behind for their own rehearsal of the lower parts.

1.On the Fridays immediately following Christmas and Easter

2.On the Fridays during school half term weeks

3.During the month of August (when the choir is in recess)

We sing services at 11.15 am most Sundays, and at 6.30 pm on some – about half – Sundays. There are also very occasional midweek services on special days. We are off duty for the whole of August each year.

This is always the most difficult area. We are an AMATEUR Organisation, we appreciate that people have unavoidable family and professional commitments, and we don’t wish to exclude anyone. On the other hand it is a simple fact that a singer whose attendance is very poor is unlikely to learn the repertoire thoroughly, will not derive maximum benefit and pleasure from the exercise, and may do damage to the whole.

There’s currently thirty-one people in the Choir. We seek to achieve an average attendance of around 75%, so we would expect to see a number in the low to mid twenties each time we meet. Naturally, as personal circumstances dictate, this average is made up of people who – because, for example, they are shift-workers – struggle to maintain 75%, and other people who are there all the time unless they are ill.

More than rules and regulations, it’s a case of everyone remembering that they are a member of a TEAM, and members have a duty to that team to maximise their attendance, but balancing that with a real-world awareness that no-one can be there on every single occasion, and not driving people away with an expectation that they achieve the impossible.