THE Big Sing 2015 at the Worcester Arena was a brilliantly organised extravaganza of 1,000 primary school pupils, so eager and enthused by the opportunity to participate in this festival of song.

It was a lovely experience and heartwarming to see so many children from a variety of schools singing with actions in complete unison.

I take my hat off to the organisers; the children thoroughly enjoyed it as did all those watching. I said 1,000 children, but really it was 2,000 as I attended the second afternoon session which followed a similar event in the morning!

St Barnabas School staged their Junior Youth Speaks event with both poetry and story. There were six finalists in each competition, two from each year, and together with the Rotary Club, we had the very difficult job of judging their performances.

I thought the best overall performance was delivered by a young lady who had spent her early life in Brazil and, at home, the family language was Portuguese.

Despite English being her second language, she delivered her story on the theme of The Place She Most Wanted to Go, in the most engaging way with excellent use of English, as well as expression and delivery.

Also on the same day my wife and I attended a summer fete in Latimer Court Residential Care Home.

We were both struck by the good design of the building, the central garden area and the vegetable/herb garden. The rooms were of the highest standard, beautifully fitted out and the premises staffed by a team of very committed and dedicated people. An excellent facility enjoyed by the residents, who are very well looked after.

The third event on this same day, Friday, June 19, was a delight as we had the honour of opening the Thai massage parlour, Gems, in their new location at the Trinity.

It’s a family business that deserves to succeed, several of their current clients explaining to me just how effective the treatment is and they seemed to have quite a few long-term supporters who sang their praises.

The 3rd Worcester Scouts held their open day and annual meeting on Saturday, June 20, at their headquarters in Vicar Street.

Thanks to the successful application for a lottery grant, they have made some tremendous improvements including a new kitchen, barbecue area and office which also serves as a well-appointed Radio Amateur base.