Christmas come to Cheetham Hill Tesco in a flash
By Jim Symcox on Dec 1, 2011 in Manchester
A Christmas flash mob choir zipped into my local Tesco today and at 1pm they started singing that old favourite “Jingle Bells.”
The choir in question is a 30 strong award winning ladies choir group, Crystal Chords.
The choir, supported by Tesco, sang to raise awareness of the Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer Scotland and of dementia during the festive season.
We’re being encouraged to sign up for an online advent calendar that carries daily tips and advice for enjoying and managing the festive season from celebrities, dementia support workers and others living with dementia.
A video of the flashmob can be viewed from 7pm, today at www.alzheimers-tesco.org.uk
The Tesco store manager (Andrew Brown) said: “Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer Scotland are our charity of the year and as a store we’ve been doing lots to fund raise for them this year, so we’re delighted to be hosting this fantastic event for such a worthwhile cause.”
Apparently the Alzheimer’s Society had a forty-three per cent increase in calls to the helpline in January from family members worried about a loved one.
Jeremy Hughes, Chief Executive, Alzheimer’s Society says: “If you haven’t seen a relative for a while, you might be more aware of changes in their behaviour. If you do become concerned about a loved one’s memory then get in touch with a dementia helpline.”
The online advent also has three opportunities to win £200 of Tesco vouchers so you can get your festive shop for free this Christmas. So remember to sign up for the calendar at www.alzheimers-tesco.org.uk
The whole thing took 3 months of careful and secretive planning and rehearsing with only Tesco store manager Andrew Brown, Crystal Chords Musical Director Monica Funnell, and a couple of support staff from the Alzheimer’s Society and Tesco partnership teams in the know. The choir visited the shop individually when doing their weekly shops to plan the logistics and practised the song in secrecy at their regular venue.
I applaud Tesco and Crystal Chords for doing their bit for raising awareness of dementia which can be so worrying for people and their relatives.
