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| Elsie Normington's Rainbow Singers |
To describe Elsie Normington as ‘energetic’ has to be the ultimate understatement. She is in fact, a veritable powerhouse of a woman. “I’ve always been hi-energy!” Elsie jokingly remarks - and judging from the immense popularity of her ‘Rainbow Singers’ sessions, it’s fair to say that her enthusiasm and zest for life are very infectious indeed.
The Rainbow Singers are a 50 strong group of young people and adults with learning and/or physical disabilities that meet every Tuesday morning at the Merkinch Community centre Inverness, for what can only be described as an hour and a half of euphoric ‘organised chaos’. Although in reality, it is far from being truly ‘chaotic’, because what Elsie has managed to achieve with the group, is a safe environment for people to express themselves freely, creatively and appropriately, to have fun, share news and simply enjoy each others company. Not everyone who attends is accompanied and the relaxed atmosphere has a refreshingly ‘unsupervised’ feel to it - unusual in itself in today’s ‘risk-assessment obsessed’ world. Elsie’s firm but all-encompassing approach has very evidently paid off. “It is a large group, and with such a diverse range of disabilities there has been the rare occasion where a member’s behaviour has been inappropriate and has bothered the others - but the really wonderful thing is, that now boundaries have been established and everyone acknowledges and respects them.”
This immediately striking and overwhelming sense of freedom, is something that has evolved over time and owes a lot to Elsie’s patience, good humour and sheer determination to include all, regardless of their level of ability. Elsie started the group 3 years ago and from then it has gone from strength to strength, with a lengthy waiting list of those eager to join in the fun.“From the outset, I wanted the group to be about what the members wanted - not just me telling them what to do. Of course there is structure, but it is always adaptable to include suggestions and requests.” Certainly, the Rainbow Singers playlist reflects the group’s very eclectic tastes - warming up with the Welcome Song and a round of ‘Heads Shoulders Knees & Toes’, swiftly followed by the likes of Abba’s ‘Dancing Queen’, happily rubbing shoulders with ‘Save the Last Dance for Me’, The Proclaimers ‘500 miles’ (very popular), Scottish Reels and a very rousing chorus of ‘Donald where’s your troosers?’
The importance of the group as a source of social activity is incredibly clear, as Alison, one of the regular volunteers explains. “Before Rainbow Singers started, there really was no-where for people to meet, to make and sustain friendships. There was a local group that stopped due to funding cuts, which meant that friends who had known each other for most of their lives, suddenly lost a vital point of contact.” As Elsie explains, for people with learning difficulties, meeting and keeping friends is both incredibly important and very difficult for them to do without motivation.
“My son Andrew has experienced considerable learning and health disabilities since the age of five, and I find I have to almost ‘engineer’ situations for him to interact with others and form friendships. Rainbow Singers is a regular meeting place that encourages confidence, self-esteem, companionship and mutual respect.”Perhaps not surprisingly, the benefits of the group are also strongly felt by the volunteers and carers too. “I just love it”, commented Anne, a regular helper with the group. “When my children grew up and moved away, I needed something for me and this has been a life-changing experience, seeing people really enjoying themselves and becoming so much more self-confident”. Often, people with learning difficulties can be withdrawn and unwilling to be the focus of attention. At Rainbow Singers, they are given the opportunity and encouragement to do things they may have never done before - something as simple as standing up and sharing a small piece of news, singing a song unaccompanied, marching with a drum, or just getting up on stage for a dance.“Many of the carers have remarked to me about the positive changes they've seen in their clients” Elsie explains, “Sometimes, they are really taken aback to see how much more self-confident and daring they are than usual!”
As well as continuing to run Rainbow Singers, Elsie has ambitious and exciting plans for the future, something that will transform the lives of so many with learning disabilities and their families. Elsie’s charity, The EN Foundation, plans to build a specialist play centre, respite wing, coffee shop and supported housing for children and young adults in Inverness and at this week’s Rainbow Singers session, Elsie announced the launch of the EN Foundation’s fundraising campaign to make this dream a reality.And the target figure of the campaign….?“Four million pounds…!” Elsie breezily announces, without apparently batting an eyeild - to a massive round of applause and cheers, as if nothing in the world could be easier... ...Well, just watch this space - because with Elsie Normington at the helm - literally ANYTHING is possible!© J Harkiss jane.harkiss@btinternet.com
For further information, contact: http://singforhealth.co.uk/singing-groups/rainbow-singers/http://www.enfoundation.co.uk/e-mail: info@enfoundation.co.uk
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