Singers start nationwide care home tour in Kent

  • Watch: report by ITV News Meridian's Kit Bradshaw


A band of singers has set out on a mission to visit 100 care homes across the UK over the coming weeks.

The "morale-boosting" tour is being organised by veterans' charity The Not Forgotten and got underway this week in Kent.

Lead singer Annie Riley told ITV News Meridian she loves bringing joy to the older generation.



The group puts on an hour-long outdoor show at each home they visit, with residents welcome to watch outside or from indoors, depending on the weather.

The tour is expected to last a number of weeks and got underway in Kent in recent days. So far they’ve visited homes in Broadstairs, Maidstone, Sidcup and Birchington-on-Sea. 

Residents at the Grenham Bay Court care home in Birchington, Kent, watch a musical performance from indoors.

Rosie Thompson, Head of Events at The Not Forgotten Association said: "We’re taking the residents back to the prime of their life. It's music from the 1960s and '70s, it's ABBA, the Beatles and a little bit of a good old singalong to Roll Out The Barrel from the Second World War.”

The organisers hope their performances can lift the spirits of care home residents, many of whom have spent much of the past 12 months separated from family and friends.