Wakefield Hospice 22nd June Report Photos and Videos Photos Phil Barr

 Wakefield Hospice Gig
23rd June, 2026

After very careful preparation by Thelma leading up to this gig for the Wakefield dementia group, things were unavoidably thrown into disarray at a late stage due to Chris’s bad throat. No worries, though as Roy was asked to step up to the plate and who then asked me to make up the numbers. (Actually, he told me I was leading – another of his jokes.) It should also be added at this point that we can feel quite smug when hearing that the country has had six Prime Ministers in the last ten years compared to our record of having six leaders in the last nine months, none of whom have lost their jobs. However, there was another unexpected hurdle as when we arrived at the hospice, a member of the team asked us to play outside on the front garden area due to the over warm conditions inside. With no sound equipment, this immediately made our task more difficult, especially with there being a bit of a breeze, although not on the scale of the reported gale at Horbury. Never mind, the Wakeylele spirit is always willing and so the nine of us set up in the welcome shade of a tree, with a colourful backdrop of roses and plants. With the seated audience in place, Roy began the gig with On The Road Again, very apt with it following

on from Saturday’s Badsworth gig, which gave us a chance to assess how we sounded in an open area. Not too bad was the impression whilst realising that plenty of oomph was needed, especially with ambulance sirens to contend with, ( Dave F said it was a bit early in the day for an ice- cream van). As a result, we upped our game for Any Dream Will Do. Roy, meanwhile had introduced his first joke of the day but even funnier was when on completion of this song and with everyone ready to launch into Return to Sender, Roy, having thanked the audience, announced that the next number was Any Dream Will Do. The rest of the first half passed without a hitch, with Singing the Blues and Side by Side proving popular, not to mention a great rendition of Millie’s hit from the sixties by The Bennetts
There now followed a hydration break – thanks for that idea, Maria – and a chance for a search party to discover the whereabouts of Dave Flatters battery (eventually found in his coffee ).
After a few mutterings, groans and grumbles as to whether to kick off the second half with ‘Coconuts,’ Thelma rightly held sway in keeping to the script and in fact the old chestnut went down very well. Come on Over to My Place was good too, as was Beautiful Sunday apart from the ending which petered out – one to iron out. Thelma then very bravely went ahead with her plan to play Tennessee Wig Walk, along with Val – bravo to them both, with no time to rehearse.

Then to round off another very pleasant summer event, punctuated with more of Roy’s jokes, with Margaret no doubt, deciding which frying pan to hit him with on their return home, There was a very jolly band plus audience sing along with Sweet Sixteen

and Bring Me Sunshine with an unexpected bonus solo from our leader when everybody else in the band was packing up. This man would play for 24 hours a day given the chance, as he apparently did last New Year’s Eve/ New Year’s Day.
Well done, Roy, and well done everyone. No rest for the wicked though as we are due to return to the White Rose Centre this Friday. Fingers crossed for Chris who is due to lead, vocal chords permitting. Best Wishes for a swift recovery, Chris.