Merseyside to join together for the Big Christmas Doorstep Sing

Families, friends and neighbours across Liverpool region are being urged to come out on their doorsteps on December 21 and sing Christmas songs to celebrate NHS and key workers.

The Big Doorstep Christmas Sing has been organised by Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust to raise spirits and voices and share a little festive joy in 2020.

The mass seasonal sing-a-long will take place from 6pm on Monday, and organisers hope it will spread some light on what is the shortest day of the year.

Rev Steve Murphy, who has been the driving force behind the campaign, says the aim is to bring all ages together for a sleigh-load of socially distanced community singing.

“We all know Christmas is going to be really different this year for so many of us, but different doesn’t necessarily mean worse,” he says.

“Many of us are going to miss singing together, we’re going to miss Nativity plays, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still bring some light into the darkness on the shortest day.

“We can get back out onto our doorsteps, just as we did for the Clap for Carers which brought so many people together. We all did that, and it became almost a tradition, it was what we did on a Thursday at 8pm. This is the same idea, only instead of clapping we’ll be singing Christmas songs. 

“It’s socially distanced because we want everyone to stay safe, but we’re allowed to sing outdoors so let’s do it.”

The Big Doorstep Christmas Sing has chosen two festive favourites that everyone’s likely to know the words to.

And, says Steve, as well as being great tunes to sing along to, there’s a positive message in both of them. 

“People can sing as many or as few as they like but we’ve chosen two traditional Christmas songs. The first is Silent Night, and that’s particularly appropriate because it was a song that was born out of adversity. The story goes that it was written very quickly on Christmas Eve for the guitar because the church organ had broken in this little Austrian town and they needed something they could sing together. And then there’s the story about Silent Night being a catalyst for the Christmas truce in the First World War in 1914 so it’s a song that’s long been associated with adversity.

“We’ve also got Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and again there’s a message in there because he was the one that was left out because he was different. It’s about reaching out and making sure everyone is included because lots of us aren’t going to be with our nearest and dearest this Christmas.”

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Although there’s really never any excuse needed for a Christmas sing-a-long, the Big Doorstep Christmas Sing is a happy way for people to show their support for all the workers who’ve gone above and beyond in 2020, including Mersey Care staff.

“80% of NHS services are delivered in the community so we’re responsible for district nurses, health visitors, midwives and the mental health services which have been really needed this year,” says Steve.

“The NHS generally has been so relied upon and so appreciated, so people can sing for the entire NHS, and for other key workers: the people who kept food on the shelves, water flowing and electricity, and our internet connected. Where would we have been without them all?

“People say ‘we’re all in this together’ and this is a small simple way of demonstrating we really are. We’re asking as many people as possible to post selfies – or elfies as we’re calling them – of themselves singing with the hashtag #doorsing.

“Nobody’s judging you, just get out on the doorstep and belt out a couple of songs!”

In case you need a bit of help, The Big Doorstep Christmas Sing has posted a couple of links to the two songs, with lyrics. Watch Silent Night here or Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer here.