Mum Rediscovers Her Confidence Through The People’s Orchestra Community

We’re throwing the spotlight on one of our violinists in The People’s Orchestra(TPO) today as she embarks on a year-long fundraising campaign to “give something back” to our charity wing.

Anna McManus signed up to TPO just over two years ago and quickly felt the positive effects of playing for fun and making new friends. More importantly, like most of our members Anna described feeling “like one of the family” as the community orchestra began enriching her life.

The mum-of-two’s enthusiasm even sparked the interest of her husband, Rob, who ended up joining The People’s Show Choir(TPSC) for South Birmingham almost a year ago.

Now keen runner and NHS worker Anna wants to do something special in return for TPO and has set a fundraising target of running 12 races in 12 months to raise vital cash towards our charitable services. The TPO’s work covers everything from helping people into work to supporting those living on the breadline with a benefits helpline.

An avid fan of Park Run and member of Bournville Harriers Running Club for 10 years, Anna has already completed her first race of Stourbridge Stagger and is gearing up her next gruelling challenge.

Having to complete on average a race a month is no mean feat for the 47-year-old as her body has barely recovered from a previous run, before she is back pounding the streets.

Some of those she’ll be taking on in quick succesion include The Birmingham and Black Country Half Marathon, The Centurian five miler near Coventry, The Two Castles race from Warwick to Kenilworth, Regency Leamington 10K, the Birmingham 10K and Wythall and Hollywood 5K. Her JustGiving page here will keep people updated on her journey.

“It was during one of the mass concerts that Chris Weber told the audience about the charity wing of TPO and I hadn’t known much about it til then,” recalls Anna. “It just really stayed with me and I thought to myself ‘how can I give back to TPO?’

“I’m not a professional violinist but I can run, so I came up with the fundraiser to bring money in and also help raise the profile of TPO and TPSC.

“I’d been going through a tough time when I joined TPO. I had lost my confidence, but TPO has done so much good for me. I wouldn’t be where I am now without the love and support I’ve received, especially as a big part of TPO and TPSC is about making friends.

“I’ve now got my confidence back and being part of the orchestra has brought me out of myself. If I’ve had a bad day, I play the violin and get some relief.

“I’ve got a job in the NHS’ blood transfusion service, so it is dealing with life and death, and good to have downtime every Sunday during the orchestra rehearsal session.

“I look forward to each and every TPO session and really miss it during the summer break.”

Anna’s route into TPO was down to her adult sons, now aged 21 and 24. The mum recalled how they encouraged her to take up something she could enjoy for herself, giving her important “me-time” without the rest of the family.

“My children told me ‘you need to do something that is just for you that we can’t gatecrash’,” explained Anna. “My friend was a member of The People’s Show Choir so I looked into that, but then found The People’s Orchestra.

“I’d played violin from when I was three and a half years old, all the way through school, but then stopped when I went to university. I’d thought about selling my violin but thankfully my mum told me to keep it, so it stayed at the family home.

“I hadn’t played the violin in an orchestra since school and my husband and sons don’t play musical instruments, so it felt like the ideal thing to do on my own.

“Everyone was so welcoming that I carried on going along and I enjoy it so much. My mum was thrilled I’d started playing again in an orchestra.

“It’s given me opportunities to play in unbelievable venues too. Places like Duke’s Hall at The Royal Academy of Music. Playing there was a dream especially as all my music exams as a child were associated with there.”

In a strange twist of fate, Anna realised there were fellow TPO colleagues that she knew from her childhood. Anna’s violin teacher in her youth was the father of TPO Performance Coach, Amy Littlewood.

“It’s such a small world as I remember Amy when she was little and her dad, Graeme Littlewood was teaching me,” laughed Anna. “He was Second Violin in the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra(CBSO).

“I was classically trained as a child. My mum played the oboe and adored classical music, but what I like so much about TPO is that we play music from films and shows. That’s more my thing – the music I would go and buy – that’s what attracted me to the orchestra.”

Formerly in the Royal Air Force(RAF) for 12 years, Anna has turned to music and the violin at different points in her life. When she was based at the British military base in The Falklands, she recalls how she took a violin with her and went into the church to play it.

It’s due to that connection that Anna spends her spare time on another charitable endeavour of crocheting scarves to send to Falklands veterans.

“My mum was adamant about keeping my violin,” Anna tells me. “But she used a school instrument and didn’t have one for a while, so she knew what it was like to not have your musical instrument and miss it.

“My mind doesn’t switch off and I can be thinking about work at 4am, but what music gives me is the ability for my brain to just focus on what I’m playing and what’s in front of me for that moment.

“Running does that for me too so to combine the two things for me is important.”

“Although, I’m having to organise the runs around the orchestra as that always comes first,” smiles Anna.

Anna’s fundraising page for The People’s Orchestra can be found here on JustGiving for anyone who would like to add a message of support or donation.