IT is a spectacular line-up, from Robbie Williams to Adele and Neil Diamond to Sir Tom Jones, but you won’t see these artists collaborating on stage right now.
Instead, their doppelgangers are making weekly appearances on a live Facebook feed for a group which was set up to raise spirits during lockdown.
Coronaoke was the idea of Brian Yuill and his wife Carole-Ann from Glasgow’s southside, and initially was a way of keeping their group of friends together by offering support when people might be struggling to cope being cut off from their usual way of life.
“It began as a way of keeping in touch and started with about 30 of us just posting a tune or live song,” said Mrs Yuill. “Literally overnight we had 100 people and as more and more people shared the page with their friends we now have around 16,000 coming together on the page.”
Log on to the Facebook page and you can’t fail to sing along with some of the people who have posted a song. One of the latest saw fellow group administrator Bryan Kennedy post a rendition of one of Sir Tom Jones's biggest hits I’ll Never Fall In Love Again or it could be a post from Glasgow karaoke singer Lauren Baird who appeared on the BBC show Altogether Now.
And it doesn’t stop there. There’s something for everyone as tribute acts strut their stuff on the group, from Alan Walker performing as George Michael to Chloe Barry doing her stint as Adele.
However, while one aim of the group is to provide some light-hearted entertainment, another aim behind it is to reach out to people to raise awareness about mental health issues and to put people in touch with someone who could help.
Mr Yuill said: “The news was looming of a lockdown and isolation was looking more and more likely. My wife is involved in health, welfare and wellbeing for a charity, Turning Point Scotland, and has a particular passion for promoting and supporting good mental health. I lost a family member to a mental health illness, so I too have a desire to help where I can.
“We were extremely concerned that people who may suffer from low mood or stress and anxiety may struggle with isolation. In a crisis such as this, we all need support. Those who are vulnerable may require further support than they did previously. Mental health can be a difficult topic, with people either shying away from communicating, or worried about the stigma involved.
“We therefore wanted a fun, light-hearted approach to opening a support network, where people could participate from home.”
With people finding themselves in unusual situations or furloughed from work, Mrs Yuill felt there might be some people who could fall through the net and wanted a way to reach out.
She added: “We created the page with the premise that we could attract people with fun and laughter, but have links and resources that would be beneficial. We have further recruited a personal trainer and a yoga instructor who are providing their services for free.
“It is crucial that we also think about and include children. They too can be vulnerable to poor mental health. We have included them in our exercise routines, we have encouraged their videos and we have provided entertainment especially for them including Disney Hour.
“We raised awareness and acceptance during World Autism Awareness Day by inviting our members who are on the spectrum to showcase their talents. They received wonderful, positive feedback that will help them grow in confidence and money cannot buy that.”
The small admin team which consists of the Yuills and Mr Kennedy has had some lovely messages of support. Mrs Yuill added: “We receive personal messages from people on a daily basis, thanking us for assisting them during this awful time.
“ I have also received messages for people who are struggling and take the time to respond and afterwards I check in with them.
“When we all return to normal life, we will do all we can to keep the page thriving as a network for anyone to feel safe, accepted and most of all a sense of belonging.
“Discussing mental health needs to become normalised.
“We would love to reach out to even more individuals and you could offer the most amazing platform to do so.”
And while there seems to be no end to the talent out there, Mr Yuill suggested that needn’t put off even established singers.
“Well if Lewis Capaldi or Marti Pellow want to do a wee live gig for us we would be delighted.
“All they need to do is get in touch,” added Mr Yuill.
For information please go to www.facebook.com groups/ 1157488067920142/
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