Castletown singalong café marks 4th year online
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‘e Peedie Café is marking its four-year anniversary with the presentation of its 206th programme.
Next week marks four years since the 'e Peedie Cafe Singalong went live on Facebook, as an online initiative.
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The Castletown café, which had to close when Covid struck, always had a musical element, where a guitar and songbook stood in the corner to be used by anyone who wanted to share a song or two.
This was a hugely enjoyable part of 'e Peedie Cafe and so when Covid came along in March 2020, although the café could no longer meet, the decision was made to set up an online singing community, via Facebook.
The very first singalong went out on March 24, 2020 and next week represents four years of a weekly online programme.
Those four years have flown by, the song list has grown to over 100 songs – all kinds of songs, some suggested by the online singing community and some introduced by the programme providers.
The online singalong has enjoyed a growing following from within and outwith Caithness – including abroad.
Each programme, which goes out weekly on a Tuesday, lasts for an hour and a half to an hour and 45 minutes and includes a mix of 21 songs, along with other bits and pieces including chats, quizzes, reminiscences and local news.
One aim of the online singalong sessions is to encourage singing as contributing to a greater sense of well-being.
It also aims to reduce feelings of isolation, particularly for those who are housebound, alone or feel unable to leave home due to ill-health or other reasons.
The ‘e Peedie Café programme displays all the words for all the songs on the screen and this provides every opportunity for folks to join in and sing along with the songs.
In marking this fourth anniversary, ‘e Peedie Café volunteers would like to thank the online singing community for their help, encouragement and input into the crafting of the programmes week by week, month by month and year by year and for their ongoing enthusiasm. Here's to the start of a fifth year!
Find the cafe on Facebook at its page – Castletown Community Hub - 'e Peedie Cafe.
