Local men's singing group, ManSong have createda special video in support of the Landmark Fundraising Appeal and to celebrate their first birthday and asocially distant, carefully managed return to singing in lockdown.

The choir, which aims to promote healthy self-expression for men through fun, friendly, relaxed singing, is based at the Landmark Arts Centre and stayed connected and singing during lockdown over Zoom.

With the Landmark's help on safety precautions an distancing guidelines, they agreed to meet in groups of six and record a song inside the Landmark, which was then edited and mixed into one recording.

Local professionals volunteered to do the filming, sound recording, mixing and editing of the song 'Keep Haulin' composed by fiddle player Andy Cadie and featured in the film Fisherman's Friends.

ManSong Founder, John Walton said: "The Landmark Arts Centre, as a venue for choral singing with its beautiful architecture and wonderful acoustics, is unrivalled locally.

"We all wanted to do something to show our support and sing with others – the video is joyful and I love the way we look like we were all on the stage at the same time, even though we weren't."

Musical Director, Katie Rose said: "I am so grateful to the team of professionals who volunteered to make this video - it was a very special experience for our singers to return and sing safely together in the unique ambience of Landmark, supported by their dedicated team.

"Singing has well researched well being benefits and has been a way of staying connected and keeping our spirits up during lockdown. It's wonderful to see men forming strong friendships and gaining confidence in their voices together."

Video Director, Adam Woods said: "Music is a powerful way of bringing people closer together, particularly in this time of lockdown and disconnection.

"And there's something quite special in a group of men singing together, and I wanted to capture this on film, as a testament to our ManSong collective spirit (with Katie's wonderful leadership) that has kept us together through 6 months of trying to sing remotely on our home screens."

Landmark Manager, Lesley Bossine said she was "Delighted to help the group and thrilled with the end result too. When we closed in March our future looked bleak. Thanks to the wonderful support from our community, both locally and further afield, we have raised enough money in donations to get us through to December.

"Although live performances are now allowed in venues it is still far from business as usual. Under current social distancing regulations, live performances will be difficult financially for us as our 329 seating capacity is reduced to a mere 54 seats. We also cannot hold our art fairs or other large events."

You can donate to the Landmark HERE

You can watch the video HERE