St Andrews Voices, the people behind Scotland's only festival of vocal and choral music, have adapted the British Heart Foundation’s Singing for Lung Health workshops to support those recovering from Covid-19 across Fife, teaching key skills around breathing to help in the fight against long Covid.
Singing for Lung Health is a group-based art in health intervention with the goal of improving the quality of life of people with a chronic lung condition.
With a proven track-record in supporting people with chronic lung conditions, the St Andrews Voices project will build on the existing breathing and wellbeing programme, adapting this specifically for people recovering from Covid-19 and experiencing long Covid symptoms such as breathlessness and associated anxiety.
Supported by the university’s Community Fund with a donation of £3000 to the project, workshops will be provided by British Lung Foundation trained practitioners and delivered entirely online, focusing on the retraining of breathing through singing.
By focussing on singing and breathing control rather than their respiratory limitations, Singing for Lung Health will allow participants to not only manage their breathlessness but also help improve quality of life.
St Andrews Voices festival director and project lead, Amanda MacLeod, said: “Our unique workshops will empower and better equip participants to deal with the breathlessness and anxiety associated with long Covid.”
Workshops will initially be offered entirely online over a 12-week period.
University of St Andrews principal, Professor Sally Mapstone, added: “While the St Andrews Voices project is small and local, the possibilities to help those suffering with long Covid are widespread and far-reaching beyond St Andrews.”
Find out more about the project via – www.standrewsvoices.com/longcovid. Interested participants can email [email protected].
