Dementia choir provides positive ‘Spark’ for Neil and Belinda

For 92-year-old Neil Begley and his wife Belinda, the Bright ‘N’ Sparks Choir is having a lasting and positive effect on both their lives.

“While I am here singing with the choir I take great pleasure in just listening to the voices and people singing around me,” Neil said. “It is just wonderful.

“When I was younger, I was quite a good singer but let’s face it I am 90 plus years old now.

“I was born in China in 1932 as part of a missionary family and was a chorister in the Holy Trinity Cathedral choir in Shanghai from the age of five.

“My family and I became prisoners of the Japanese during their occupation of China’s east coast. We were in the Yang Chow Prisoner Camp for two and a half years with more than 600 other prisoners.

“In Yang Chow singing was a large part of our lives. The inmates held Church services each Sunday, and I sang in the church choir, as well as camp concerts.”

As Neil’s carer Belinda said supporting someone who experiences dementia was not easy.

“Neil loves to sing and he enjoys the socializing and mingling with people so being part of the choir is so important,” Belinda said.

“There is a tendency to not do as much socialising as it can be stressful for carers.

“While I am not a singer, never have been, it is actually good fun. All the carers are benefiting from the socializing, it is spirit building.”

Both Neil and Belinda joined the Bright ‘N’ Sparks Choir in early 2024 at the Brighton Wellness Hub for the support, and in Neil’s case due to his lifelong love of music and singing.

“It is great to meet people,” Neil said. “I enjoy every Friday, but only on the condition that Belinda is with me. I would not be able to attend on my own.

“I have really missed not being able to sing with a choir, so when my wife saw the article about a dementia choir starting up on the northside, I jumped at the chance to join it.

“I’m enjoying it immensely.”

Community and Oral Health Consumer and Community Partnerships Manager Claire Harrison said with nearly half a million people in the country living with dementia, the personal impact on individuals and their families, partners and carers can be very high.

“Dementia can happen to anybody, but the risk increases with age with almost one person in 10 aged over 65 and three in 10 over 85 years suffering dementia in Australia,” Claire said.

“Music can be very therapeutic, and good for speech, memory and socialising. It can enhance and maintain a person’s wellbeing, but also prevent and reduce isolation, loneliness and depression.”

During Neil’s youth and early adulthood in Australia and overseas, he also played in Salvation Army bands and sang in Salvation Army choirs.

“I also liked to ham it up singing in Gilbert and Sullivan musicals,” he said.

“In 1972, I went to live in the country that is now Vanuatu there I revived the Vila Choral Society, a community choir with members from the British, French and Melanesian communities.

“In Queensland, I sang in the State and Municipal Choir.”

At 70, Neil retired but continued his musical life by pursuing an Arts degree majoring in music at the Australian Catholic University, graduating in 2007.

Claire said the Bright ‘N’ Sparks Choir was developed so that people like Neil and Belinda, families, carers and people experiencing dementia could attend to enjoy the experience and the healthy aging benefits of music.

The Bright ‘N’ Sparks Choir runs each Friday from 9.30 am to 12.00 noon at the Brighton Wellness Hub, with singing from 10.00 am to 11.00 am, followed by a light morning tea.

The Choir currently has places available for interested people. To find out more information please contact 3631 7568.