Red Leicester is Leicester’s socialist choir singing songs expressing social and political protest, and songs of worldwide celebration, struggle and change. To find out more about us, including when and where we meet and how to join us, please click here.
To read more news about what we are up to and recent events in which we have been involved, just scroll through the stories and pictures below.
News and Events
Red Leicester raises £91 for One Roof Leicester
Ten members of Red Leicester, led by Musical Director Jane Bursnall, raised £91 for local homelessness charity, One Roof Leicester, on Saturday 4th November at our first busk of the term.
Red Leicester at Leicester’s First Common Folk Festival
We enjoyed the Common Folk Festival on Saturday 26th September, dovetailing our songs with local poet Kevin Brown. We sang We Were Seeds, Song of Peace, We Shall Be Known, Harbour, and The Internationale.
Busking for Alice Hawkins Food Bank
Ten members of Red Leicester raised over £120 for the Alice Hawkins Food Bank on Silver Street in the city centre on Saturday 5th July. Many thanks to Clare who led us, passers-by who donated and our stalwart fans, especially Neil, who helped with the collection.
Street Choirs Festival 2025 – Bradford
16 members of the choir joined 50 other choirs at the Street Choirs Festival in Bradford over the weekend of June 13th to 15th. Old friendships cemented and new connections made. We sang together, busked, enjoyed concerts, ate well and attended some excellent workshops. we sang Lives in the Balance and We were Seeds during our concert slot, both songs pertinent to the current climate of warmongering, genocide and the spread of fascism.
Busking for The British Red Cross Gaza Appeal
We in Red Leicester remain deeply concerned for the lives of Palestinian people and the ongoing blockade of all food, water, medicines and aid in Gaza. On 10th May, we busked again for Palestine, and this time raised just over £112 for the Gaza Appeal.
Conscientious Objectors Day
Red Leicester choir joined CND activists on 15th May, to commemorate Conscientious Objectors Day. The group gathered around the Peace Stone, close to the Arch of Remembrance War Memorial at the top of Peace Walk, which honours the 250 known objectors from Leicester and the surrounding area who refused to fight in the World Wars. The organiser spoke powerfully about Conscientious Objection in its broadest sense and included the moral objection to Trump’s ideology and actions. We listened to parts of a letter from a courageous 18yr old Israeli young man, who has spent time in jail for being a CO. Other stories were shared including a Quaker testimony piece about a woman who objected to signing up for war work which was a legal obligation. Red Leicester sang Song of Peace, Power of Love and The Whole Wide World Around. Richard spoke about how radical the last pope had been on peace (if not gender and gay rights politics). We heard some peace poetry too. This event is marked annually in Leicester and Red Leicester are proud to support it.
Busking for Myanmar Earthquake Relief Fund
Red Leicester gathered in the city to busk for the Myanmar Earthquake relief fund. We moved to a sunnier spot than our usual place outside The Globe. In total we raised £100.20
Leicester Friends of Bethlehem
Red Leicester are supporters of Leicester Friends of Bethlehem who work to promote cultural and educational links between Leicester and Bethlehem. The choir busked on Saturday 8th March and raised £154 for the Ghirass Cultural Centre in Bethlehem. Afterwards some members attended the Palestine Vigil and collected another £64 for the cause.
Busking for One Roof Leicester
Red Leicester’s first busk of 2025 raised £77 for One Roof, Leicester’s homelessness charity. A young girl stopped to tell us how lovely we sounded, lifting our spirits on a cold damp morning. Choir members donated £125 to One Roof in December in lieu of busking.
Red Leicester raised over £835 for Women’s Aid Leicestershire
Our fundraising Ceilidh was a huge success and enjoyed by everyone. The food was magnificent, the music and dancing splendid and the raffle raised over £400 in cash on the night. Big thanks to all our supporters and everyone who came on the night. We are already planning our 2025 Evening of Song and Dance Fundraiser.
Local Plan Demo
On 15th October Red Leicester joined other groups at the Climate Ready Housing Demo outside City Hall, organised by Climate Action Leicester. Lots of positive comments from passers by and the planning committee members did see us!
Celebrating a very important birthday!
On the 29th of August four choirs, including Red Leicester, came together to sing and celebrate not only Jane’s birthday but Jane being on two feet again. It was a lovely reminder of the joy of singing together and we’re all looking forward to the 10th September and the start of term.
Red Leicester choir members enjoying a range of summer activities.
Remembering Frank Friedmann
On Tuesday, members of Red Leicester gathered, with many others, to celebrate the life of Frank. As a much valued member of the choir for many years he had asked for us to sing amongst others, We Will Overcome & the Internationale both of which many of the assembly joined with us.
Martin Pennington spoke eloquently on the importance of Frank to Red Leicester and he gave us permission to add his words here.
“I sang beside Frank in Red Leicester on many occasions – busking in the city centre; at CND, trade union, May Day rallies, marches and other events in the area; at the Street Choirs Festival every year.
Frank loved singing and was very aware of the power of song to bring people together and to communicate important messages.
It was Frank, in fact, who coined the name of the choir – Red Leicester – a tribute not only to his sense of humour but also to his firm belief that the choir’s name should leave no doubt about its credentials. I often wondered how many people, innocently researching east midlands produce, happened upon the choir’s website by mistake.
He was, in many ways, the socialist conscience of the choir and often spoke about the need to be clear why we were singing certain songs. Nor was he slow to point out if he felt a particular song veered too far from this ethos into sentiments that anyone might espouse!
Whenever he stood up at a rehearsal or meeting to make a point, you knew that it would be well-argued, to the point, courteous and passionate – even if you disagreed with him. He would frequently draw our attention to the links between a song written years previously and current events and issues.
Adey, a fellow bass, commented that Frank made ‘many astute observations that helped strengthen the political activism within the choir as well as influencing the values of what the choir is really about, and all that before mentioning the friendship he imparted.’
He was also influential in the early days of the Campaign Choirs Network and Lotte Reimer remembers that ‘Frank was at the founding meeting of the Network and was instrumental in setting up the website. He was a real rock and a lovely human being.’
Frank encompassed many strong beliefs – socialism, internationalism, environmentalism, humanism – but was above all else a great human being with a passion for life, a love of his fellows and a wonderful sense of humour. He is greatly missed”.
Street Choirs Festival 2024
Red Leicester joined 44 other choirs for the 40th Street Choirs festival in Sheffield.
We were led superbly by Clare, who stepped into the breach after our Musical Director, Jane, fractured her foot at our previous gig the week before! We had a great time singing in some fabulous places, meeting old friends and making new ones.
International Workers Memorial Day
On Sunday 28th April – around 50 people gathered in the rain at Leicester Town Hall in front of the International Workers Memorial Tree to “remember those who died at work and fight for the living”. We heard powerful speeches from a local MP, Mayor and Union leaders and a slice of Red Leicester sang Whole Wide World Around, Unison in Harmony and The Internationale.
Busking on Queens Road
On Saturday 13th April we had a change of venue from our usual spot outside Very Bizarre in the city centre to Queens Road. We sang in aid of Medical Aid for Palestinians. The local MP Jonathan Ashworth joined us for a rendition of Bandiera Rossa. In total we raised £280.50.
Busking for MAP
On Saturday 16th March a select band of Red Leicester Choir busked in the city centre for Medical Aid for Palestinians and raised £124.64 in the hour’s singing and a final total of £250 after generous donations.
Leicester CND Peace Tree Planting Ceremony
Red Leicester sang at a ceremony organised by Leicester CND and attended by two Mayors for peace, Leicester’s Mayor, Peter Soulsby and Richard Altram, who represented the international network of Mayors for Peace. A cherry tree was planted to remember victims of war. It proved to be both emotional and uplifting as we sang all together and listened to poems and speeches.
Workshop with Val Regan.
Red Leicester and friends enjoyed a fabulous workshop with Val Regan, who taught us some lovely new songs, one of which we gave an impromptu performance of at our next event!
Busking for Shelter
Our first busking Saturday on February 3rd raised a neat £100 for the charity Shelter.
Busking for Women’s Aid
On Saturday, in sub-zero temperatures and freezing fog, a good number of Red Leicester choir gathered to busk in aid of Women’s Aid. We collected a grand total of £185 in an hour of singing, after which we went off to find hot drinks.
Red Leicester Ceilidh
Saturday 11th November saw the return of the Red Leicester fundraising ceilidh with the Greenshoots Orchestra. The event was brilliantly successful, the crowds came and every ticket was sold and a joyous time was had by all. There was dancing and food cooked by the choir members themselves; the choir sang six songs of hope for change during the evening. Thanks to the generosity of all who joined us, we raised £630.60 for Woodgate Community Food, a food bank now part of Alice Hawkins Community Projects.
Workshop/ with Leicester Amika Choir
Busking for Ghirass Cultural Centre
Red Leicester returned to busking on Saturday 7th of October after the summer break We raised £80 for the Ghirass Cultural Centre who, in Bethlehem, work with children and their families in the fields of education, culture and social work to help them enjoy their lives and have their rights respected.
Busking for Leicester City of Sanctuary
The cathedral bell ringing encouraged us to move venue at our monthly busk on Saturday 8th July which raised £50 for Leicester City of Sanctuary for their work with people seeking sanctuary. We then went to the Palestinian Solidarity rally at Town Hall Square and sang Shut Elbit Down. Leicester’s Elbit drone factory is still under siege since the first of May.
Street Choirs Festival – Kendal
Red Leicester choir members sang with dozens of other choirs throughout the weekend of the Street Choirs Festival in Kendal 30th June to 2nd July. A great time was had by all thanks to the Cumbrian choirs who organised an excellent weekend. Our rendition of Boff Whalley’s These are the Bastards went down well.
Singing for Water Aid
Red Leicester busked for Water Aid on Saturday June 3rd, and some members also joined other choirs on stage at the Sing for Water event on Sunday 4th June. More than £2,000 was raised for Water Aid.
Solidarity with Palestine Action to Shut Elbit Down
Israel’s largest weapons company, Elbit (UAV Tactical Systems) has a factory in Leicester which makes military equipment (including Watchkeeper drones) which have been used to attack Palestinians. Red Leicester sang on Monday 22nd May in solidarity with the Palestine Action siege of the factory to shut it down. We sang Janet Wood’s Shut Elbit Down and other peace songs. See the video here.
Singing for Peace on Conscientious Objectors Day
Red Leicester joined CND and other supporters of peace in Peace Walk by the Peace Stone to honour conscientious objectors from Leicester and Leicester who suffered in the world wars. We sang Keep you in Peace and Song of Peace and talked about Ukraine and all the groups of people who courageously stood for their principles. We also remembered Penny Walker who persuaded the City Council to change the name of Memorial Walk to Peace Walk and provide the Peace stone.
Busking for victims of the war in Sudan
Singing “You’re nowhere if you believe Theresa May” a line from Citizen Shanty (Commoners Choir). We raised £130 on Saturday May 14th, busking for Waging Peace for their work with victims of war in Sudan.
Busking for Leicestershire Autistic Society
We raised £105.68 for The Leicestershire Autistic Society on Saturday 1st April – to mark World Autism Acceptance Week. We decided to forego the opportunity to busk for the spaghetti farmers in San Serif, after their crop failure. 😉
Busking for DEC Turkey and Syria Earthquake Appeal
We raised £155 for earthquake survivors in Turkey and Syria on Saturday 4th March.
Busking for Leicester Foodbanks
We raised a whopping £194.21 for local foodbanks on Saturday 4th February. It was cold and grey but we sang brightly.
Busking for One Roof Leicester
On 7th Jan 2023 Red Leicester busked in support of One Roof – a local charity fighting to end homelessness in Leicester.
As the photo evidences, we were competing with (at times heavy) rain, which significantly reduced footfall. Nevertheless , in the circumdtances we raised a respectable £36 during our abbreviated set.
Busking for Women’s Aid
We raised £123.03 for Women’s Aid plus a donation of £30 from Shrewsbury friends at our monthly busking slot outside the Globe. Great generosity from the people of Leicester despite the hardship of cost of living and upcoming pressures of Christmas. There is a special joy in singing together on the streets of Leicester, raising awareness and funds to make a monthly donation to various causes.
Solidarity on the UCU Picket line
Some of us sang UNISON, William Morris, There is Power in a Union, and the Internationale in solidarity with striking staff from De Montfort University on the morning of 30th November. Strikers raised their fists in unison with us during the Internationale.
Palestinian Solidarity
Members of Red Leicester Choir sang to support an Amos Trust event in Leicester on Monday 29th November 2022, which is raising funds this Christmastime to help women of Gaza, with breast cancer, as part of its Palestine Justice campaign. [For more information see Amos Trust Christmas Appeal and Palestine Justice (amostrust.org)]
Remembering Jan Wild-Grant
Red Leicester Choir members were privileged to sing Jan’s favourite songs at her wake on 11th October. Jan was a formidable and fiery member of Red Leicester for many years. Her activism goes back to Greenham Common Peace Camp. She stood up for women, Working people, refugees and other oppressed peoples across the word. She was once called a “loose cannon” and took this label with pride. A force of nature, Jan was fiercely independent and leaves her daughter Ellie and grandson George. She will be sadly missed. We sang Unison in Harmony, I am a River, Rosa’s Lovely Daughters and our anthem, The Internationale.
Supporting striking transport workers (8th October)
To demonstrate solidarity with all workers taking industrial action over their pay and conditions, Red Leicester sang on the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) picket line at Leicester station. The choir felt it important to show their support for the RMT’s struggle in defence of their livelihoods and in the face of a Tory government intent on making working people pay for their own incompetence and mismanagement.
Busy Saturday for Red Leicester (1st October)
Red Leicester had a busy start to the month when they raised over £120 for local foodbanks through busking in the city centre. Following this, they moved across to Jubilee Square to sing at the rally organised by Enough Is Enough to campaign against the cost of living crisis. Many people stopped to listen and lots joined in with the choir’s rendition of The Tory Right. Gary O’Donnell, one of the organisers, commented: ‘Thanks for Saturday you were fantastic and so well received …. it was a great event that your contribution as the choir was greatly received‘.
Red Leicester bids farewell to long-standing members (21st September)
It was a bittersweet occasion when Red Leicester met to say goodbye to Jane and Martin Pennington (see photo below), members of the choir since 2010, who are moving to Shrewsbury. To mark the occasion the choir sang several of their favourite songs including Get On Your Bike, Harbour, Rosa’s Lovely Daughters, The Dirty Thirty and Sing John Ball.
Although the couple are excited about the move to a different part of the country, they expressed their sadness at leaving the choir which had provided them with such great comradeship, shared values, harmonies and love over the twelve years of their membership.
But who knows – Shrewsbury might be crying out for a socialist choir?!
Visit of Storm to City Festival (27th – 28th August)
Red Leicester sang Bella Ciao and There Is No Planet B to welcome the giant puppet, Storm, to Leicester as part of the City Festival. The puppet is ‘a goddess of the sea’, over 10m tall, composed entirely from recycled materials and is intended to encourage people to care for the environment. On her first visit to England (she hails from Scotland!), she certainly caused a stir in Leicester walking around the streets of the city centre!
Watch the videos of Storm at:
https://www.facebook.com/VisionMechanicsLeith/videos/3209115842635731/
Street Choirs Festival 2022 (29th – 31st July)
Red Leicester sang at the Street Choirs Festival with about 20 other choirs from across the UK, the first time the event has been held since the 2019 festival in Manchester. It was a wonderful occasion to sing again on the streets of Whitby and meet old and new friends from other choirs!
Busking for Afghanistan Earthquake Appeal (July 2nd)
Red Leicester braved the rain on Saturday July 2nd to sing on the Leicester streets in aid of people affected by the recent earthquake in Afghanistan (see photo below). In total, £130 was raised and the choir thanks everyone who contributed so generously.
Singing for WaterAid (June 4/5th)
Red Leicester were busy over the weekend. Firstly, on Saturday 4th June, we were out on the Leicester streets busking in support of WaterAid and raising £40 for the charity. The picture below shows us in fine voice as usual! On Sunday 5th June, we sang at the Leicester Riverside Festival, again in support of WaterAid.
Prebend Gardens Summer Saturday Event (May 20th)
Red Leicester sang a programme of 11 songs at this event to celebrate the recent re-opening of Prebend Gardens after landscaping work was carried out. Amongst other songs, our programme included Shut Elbit Down, Song of Peace, Lay It Down, Pointless Packaging, I Am a River and a first outing of Harbour by Anna Tabbush.
Conscientious Objectors’ Memorial Day (May 15th)
Red Leicester joined other Leicester folk in commemorating and celebrating the brave people who have stood out against war and for peace over the last 100 years or more. The choir performed Lay It Down to begin the proceedings and Song of Peace right at the end. In between there were poems, testimony and readings from others; a defiant and moving occasion held at the memorial to conscientious objectors in Peace walk.
Red Leicester perform at Yes! Yes! UCS! (March 29th)
Red Leicester (below) sang two songs to round off a performance of Yes! Yes! UCS! by Townsend Productions at the Quorn Grange Hotel. The production celebrated the famous work-in at Upper Clyde Shipbuilders in 1971-72, led by trade unionist Jimmy Reid, and featured Heather Gourdie and Janie Thomson plus music from Neil Gore. It was a fabulous evening and Red Leicester was proud to perform at such a tremendous event! Click here to watch a short video of the choir singing the Waverley Polka.
Nationality and Borders Bill
Olivia Colman (below) delivers a trenchant challenge to MPs to do the right thing and to vote to change the cruel and heartless Nationality and Borders Bill currently going through Parliament. Send this to your MP and encourage them to find their compassion and vote against the government’s proposals – we stand Together With Refugees.
Red Leicester raise money for Ukraine (March 5th)
Red Leicester busked in aid of the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal on Saturday 5th March, raising £1388 from this and other sources – many thanks to those who donated generously.
In addition, the choir said goodbye to Mel (pictured second from the left below) who is shortly moving to Brighton. Bon voyage, Mel!
Citizens’ Shanty raises awareness of pernicious anti-refugee bill (February 9th)
Red Leicester recorded a rousing version of Boff Whalley’s Citizens’ Shanty in order to draw attention to Together With Refugees’ campaign against the Nationality and Borders Bill currently being debated in Parliament. Members of the choir then sent copies of the recording to their MPs in order to encourage them to vote against various clauses in the Bill which, according to Together With Refugees will: ‘deny many refugees the chance to seek sanctuary in the UK, criminalise those who try, isolate refugees in harmful out-of-town institutions, and undermine 70 years of international co-operation under the UN refugee convention. Combined with the government’s refusal to set a clear target on new safe routes, it would drastically cut the overall number we give safety to. As well as being inhumane, it will be expensive, unworkable and undermine our international standing.’
Red Leicester busking for Red Cross (February 5th)
Red Leicester busked outside the Globe in Silver Street on Saturday 5th February raising £100 for the Red Cross Appeal. Many thanks to everyone who donated so generously.
Red Leicester Choir 