Student marks gap year on high note with own choir

A student on her gap year has shunned the usual backpacking trip to set up a church choir in a village she picked randomly on the internet.

Lucy Hole, 18, watched her friends embark on traditional gap year activities but decided she would rather start a choir of her own in Britain.

The teenager chose the picturesque village of Burnsall in the Yorkshire Dales after looking at Google Maps because she fancied living in the countryside.

Despite having never heard of Burnsall, which is 200 miles from her home in Abingdon, she contacted the local church to see if they wanted a choir.

Miss Hole, who has moved to Yorkshire and started rehearsing with her new group of 11, said: “I’m hoping this is the starting point for more things like this in the future

"I knew I wanted to do a gap year but I didn’t want to do the usual tours around the globe. I thought why not set up and run a choir for my gap year? It was on my list of ‘Things I Want To Do During My Lifetime’.

“I didn’t know where to go so I looked on Google Maps for a nice village and when I spotted Burnsall in the Yorkshire Dales I knew it was where I wanted to go. It sounds a bit strange but when I saw it, it felt like the perfect place.”

The singer emailed St Wilfrid’s Church asking if they had a church choir and was amazed when she received a reply saying not only was there no choir but the church wanted one.

The Rev Fiona Jenkins, of St Wilfrid’s Church, said: “Lucy is an absolute blessing to have here. She’s got a great voice and we’re all really excited about the choir.”

Miss Hole, who is supporting herself by working at a pub and primary school, plans to study music at Aberdeen University next year and dreams of being on Songs of Praise.

She hopes to be a professional singer or a teacher and to set up a community choir where she can branch out musically.