The Bristol Royal Mail Choir is an amateur choral ensemble made up of employees of

Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...

. The choir was founded in April 2012 by choirmaster

Gareth Malone Gareth Edmund Malone (born 9 November 1975) is an English choirmaster and broadcaster, self-described as an " animateur, presenter and populariser of choral singing". He is best known for his television appearances in programmes such as '' Th ...

as part of the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

television series '' The Choir: Sing While You Work''. At the time of founding, the choir was made up of employees drawn from

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

and its surrounding area of

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of the nine official regions of England, regions of England in the United Kingdom. Additionally, it is one of four regions that altogether make up Southern England. South West England con ...

. The choir is conducted by David Ogden. The Royal Mail also has a London-based choir, the Mail Voice Choir.

''The Choir: Sing While You Work''

The 2012

BBC 2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and d ...

TV series followed Gareth Malone as he formed and trained four workplace choirs, including one from the

Royal Mail workforce. Bristol Royal Mail Choir was one of three that reached the final of the competition, where they sang at the Wales

National Eisteddfod The National Eisteddfod of Wales ( Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competito ...

Llangollen Llangollen () is a town and community (Wales), community, situated on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Val ...

Charity work

Following the success of the ensemble's television appearances, the Royal Mail Choir, now performing as the Royal Mail's official choir, has given public performances to aid charity, particularly in support of

Prostate Cancer UK Prostate Cancer UK is a prostate cancer research, awareness and support organisation which is a registered charity in England and Wales, as well as in Scotland. History The organisation was founded in 1996 as The Prostate Cancer Charity by Prof ...

, the Royal Mail's partner charity for 2013. In April 2013 the choir released a version of "

Abide with Me "Abide with Me" is a Christian hymn by Scottish Anglican cleric Henry Francis Lyte (1793–1847). A prayer for God to stay with the speaker throughout life and in death, it was written by Lyte in 1847 as he was dying from tuberculosis. It is m ...

" with ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...

'' winner

Joe McElderry Joseph McElderry (; born 16 June 1991) is an English singer and songwriter. He won the The X Factor (British series 6), sixth series of ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor'' in 2009. His first single "The Climb (Joe McElderry song), ...

, to promote a set of footballer-themed stamps. Proceeds were donated to Prostate Cancer UK. They have performed at St George's Church, Bristol. In September 2013, they performed a charity concert at

Bridgewater Hall The Bridgewater Hall is a concert venue in Manchester city centre, England. It cost around £42 million to build in the 1990s, and hosts over 250 performances a year. It is home to the 165-year-old Hallé Orchestra as well as to the Hallé ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, at the invitation of Manchester Airport Choir. The choir also performed at the

PostEurop PostEurop is the association of European public postal operators, one of the constituent unions of the Universal Postal Union. PostEurop was created in 1993 to simplify the exchange of mail in Europe, a task previously undertaken by the European Co ...

20th anniversary celebration held in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. In November 2013 they performed at the Poppy Appeal Commemorative Festival held at

Colston Hall Bristol Beacon, previously Colston Hall, is a concert hall and Grade II listed building on Colston Street, Bristol, England. It is owned by Bristol City Council. Since 2011, it has been managed by Bristol Music Trust. The hall opened as a con ...

, Bristol.

Advertising campaigns

As a public face of the Royal Mail, the choir were used to launch the Christmas

commemorative stamp A commemorative stamp is a postage stamp, often issued on a significant date such as an anniversary, to honor or commemorate a place, event, person, or object. The ''subject'' of the commemorative stamp is usually spelled out in print, unlike defi ...

issue in October 2012. The choir's rendition of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

song "

All You Need is Love "All You Need Is Love" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a non-album single in July 1967, with "Baby, You're a Rich Man" as its A-side and B-side, B-side. It was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lenn ...

" was used to accompany the Royal Mail's post-

privatisation Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

national television advertising campaign beginning in November 2013. The advertisement, called "We Love Parcels", is the first major advertising campaign by the Royal Mail for 6 years. The choir recorded the song at the

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

, London.

Musical directors

* David Ogden *Paul Woolley

References

External links

Royal Mail Choir at royalmail.com
* * {{authority control English choirs Musical groups established in 2012 2012 establishments in the United Kingdom