Alan

I was born in North East England, lived in Yorkshire and I’ve been in London for about 30 years.  The words “Ey up” remind me of home.

My happiest memory, oh gosh -  the year I spent travelling around Africa in the late 80’s. I should probably say getting married last year, actually. 

I was in another choir but to be honest I’m getting a little bored of singing just opera. I came to a Citizens of the World choir concert and listened to it and thought “that’s wonderful” and now here I am. 

I’m hoping it will be a way of broadening my contacts as it were. I don’t mean professional contacts but I mean the people that I meet.  I like meeting new people and different cultures and places. I love travelling but this is a way of meeting people from all over the world. I’m hoping that the choir is a way for refugees to come together and feel more at home here.

The biggest surprise I’ve had in the UK was moving to London, and I moved to London 30 years ago to be with Helen. I thought I’d try it for six months and thirty years later I’m still here and still enjoying it.

I run my own business, managing nature reserves and I want to continue that, take on new projects and learn new things and also to go travelling again later in the year. 

I’m 58 now so in 10 years time I'll be in my late 60’s so I'll be thinking about retirement - but I’m not sure I ever will. I want to continue learning about wildlife, which is what I do.