Membership

The choir is intended primarily for women connected to Keele in some way.  This could be:

• living in Keele village/parish
• working in the parish
• working at the University
• studying at the University
• alumni/friends of the University
• working in the Keele University Business Park
• using the Keele University nursery
• connected to St.John’s primary school/St.John’s church

However, we are not ‘exclusively’ a Keele choir and we have space for just about everyone who wants to come, but if we get oversubscribed, we may have to limit places!.  If, in future, space becomes too tight we will operate a waiting list with priority given in the following order:

1. Long-term residents of Keele (village/parish residents, those staff or their families living on campus)
2. Employees of Keele University or associated organisations on campus
3. Employees of organisations in the village/parish
4. Those connected to the school/church (eg parents/grandparents of children in the school, congregation members)
5. Students of Keele University
6. Alumni of Keele University
7. Those with no connection to Keele or the University

At the current time of writing (December 2024) we have room for plenty more with no waiting list!

Guidance on choir membership

All people thinking of joining can attend for one free taster session to see if they like it.

You can come to the choir and pay session by session if you wish, although obviously it is better to try to come regularly so you can learn songs thoroughly and not feel left out! It is also cheaper and excellent value to pay and commit termly.  We usually run for 12-14 weeks, following the school holidays.

Current costs (2024-25) are under review and will be updated in January 2025:

Waged:  £6.50 per session (pay as you go) or £6.00 if paying for a block of 12-14 sessions dependent on term length

Unwaged/low wages (ie on standard benefits)/pensioner/student: £3.50 per session

You can pay by cash (put it in a sealed envelope with the amount and your name on please, and the date if you’re paying for individual sessions) or by cheque to Keele Women’s Community Choir. If you’d like to do a direct electronic bank transfer, speak to our Treasurer, Kate Hazelton, and she will give you our account details.

If you pay termly and miss sessions we do not refund them – sorry! Equally, we do not want to prevent people coming to the choir because of financial difficulties or hardship – please talk to one of us (Kate – Chair, Claire – Secretary, or Kate – Treasurer) in confidence if there are issues we can help with…

How to join:

The best thing to do is just turn up to a session to try it out for a free taster, but it may be worth checking we are ‘on’ that Thursday. Please make yourself known to us on the night – we would like to take names, email addresses, contact details etc.