‘Listen Up!’ A night of talent, tunes and togetherness in support of Samaritans Tamworth on Saturday 20th September was held at the Sutton Coldfield Town Hall.

Tamworth Samaritans is an independent charity that has over 100 unpaid volunteers working to help those in distress, in need of emotional support or just someone to listen to them without judgement or prejudice.  They offer many services such as 24hour free call helpline, school services, prison outreach, Tamworth Rail station, and have been engaging with the Tamworth, Lichfield, Burton and surrounding areas since 1976.

The ’Listen Up!’ was a ticketed event that had been organised and run by Carol Ingram who herself is a Samaritan volunteer alongside her husband Mark Ingram and other Samaritan volunteers. The room venue had been gifted by Sutton Coldfield Town Hall thanks to Russell Smith who had also kindly offered to cover the bar staff for the bar.  There were unique handmade crafts from crocheted animals to painted stones, pots, knitted keyring hearts and more for sale.  There was also a tombola and some of the poets and writers had donated their books to be put up for private auction.

Carol and Kirsty introduced the evening and explained what roles the Samaritans play and how they can be reached.  Performers on the night saw Adrian Harvey starting off the night with his ukulele, 'Prince' vibes and some audience participation.  The audience would see both Carol and Kirsty return with reminders of the work that Samaritans do and remind us about the importance of the support.    

Apple Venus a duo comprising of Mark Ingram and Russell Smith performed their poetronika which is poetry set to music, taking the words and their meanings to a whole another level.  Ian Henery performed psalms turned into poems which he happily announced that he had set them to music and had caught the attention of music producers from Tennessee!

Ellie Golding a former Samaritan who writes and produces songs, sang via video as she couldn’t be there an her tone was just beautiful.

The Tamworth Twangers had the crowd giggling and singing along, creating a very merry vibe.    

After an interval of half an hour the second half was brought in by the wonderful group The Other Half, with singers Sylvia and Andrew Keatley and musician Andrew Beckley.

Poet Graham Foster read some of his thoughtful poetry including one both for and about his wife, which was both funny and endearing.      

Poet Saida Chowdhury (pictured) read a selection of poems from her recently published poetry collection, ‘Broken Minds’.    

James Thomas Noel Clark a singer/song writer who found healing through faith also holds events to reduce loneliness. The performers ended with Adrian Harvey again encouraging audience participation and everyone actively taking part.

Carol Ingram thanked everyone and everyone left feeling elated from having been part of something truly wonderful.       "The work that these selfless individuals do is amazing! Giving up their time to help people when they are at the lowest point, feeling like they have no one to turn to and allowing them to speak without judgement." said Saida.      "I was so honoured to have been invited to perform at this event alongside such incredible performers and also because my book 'Broken Minds' shares this philosophy of encouraging those who need help to reach out and not to suffer in silence. What touched my heart the most was people being brave enough to share their stories and me thinking that the world is a better place because they are in it. The whole evening was thoughtful and very enjoyable too, from the performances, to the items on sale, to just the warmth and passion that everyone had in coming together for a shared cause, Tamworth Samaritans.  Please do feel free to continue to support them so that they can continue making a positive difference in people's lives", encouraged Saida.