The June Baker Singers started about 30 years ago. Set up by June Baker, one of our Lancaster alumni, the group was comprised of singers, brought together by June, to sing at their own concerts. The aim of these concerts is to raise funding through the donations of those attending, which would then be donated to charities to support people locally and nationally.

June, a piano and singing teacher for many years, is an amazing fundraiser, who ran three groups initially and now runs one merged group, with concerts held in and around Garstang. The group of singers cover ranges including soprano, alto, tenor and bass, and all sing while June leads the choir and plays the piano.

The funds raised by the June Baker Singers have been donated to charities including Parkinson’s UK, local charities supporting Ukrainian children, the Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes, and now, Defying Dementia. Over the years, the group have raised thousands of pounds in support of local charities, or local arms of charities, who support people within the region. Since 2022, the June Baker singers have supported Defying Dementia after learning about their work.

June’s husband Arthur had been living with dementia, and sadly passed away in 2022. June wanted to find a way of supporting families who live with dementia through the concerts. It was at the Memory Café in Garstang, which is run by a lady whose husband passed away from dementia, that the June Baker Singers learnt about Defying Dementia at Lancaster University.

The first concert that the group put on in support of Defying Dementia was in July 2022, and their Christmas time concert in the same year raised £500. The concerts are always for charity - the singers charge no ticket prices, they only ask for donations from the people who attend, who then give generously in support of the singers’ chosen charities. Another concert took place during this year’s Remembrance weekend, taking their total raised for Defying Dementia to over £1,000.

On their support of Defying Dementia, Carolyn Worthington, one of the June Baker Singers said:

“The June Baker Singers are well known in the area as fundraisers, and fundraising for charities who help local people is important to us. Defying Dementia is a campaign that we are proud to raise funding for. We know how much it costs to fund research, so if we can make something of a difference to support the amazing things that Defying Dementia are achieving, then we are more than happy to offer our support.”

On behalf of everyone from Lancaster University's Defying Dementia team, a heartfelt thank you to the June Baker Singers for all that you do in support of our research.