When I moved to Reading from London in about 2002 - I wanted to sing and initially looked around for a choir to join. There wasn’t one that I wanted, so I formed one.

Having recently sung with the London Gay Men's Chorus I had developed a taste for that style of singing and of course the unique camaraderie that comes with doing something together with a group of guys, never mind a group of gay guys.

I can't remember quite how it happened, but I met Anthony Witt in the pub in Reading one Sunday evening and the conversation naturally turned to our respective careers - as it does. As soon as I discovered he was a singing teacher I took a chance and asked him if he would be willing to start up a Gay Men's Chorus with me, and amazingly he agreed after naming several stipulations - I had to fetch him each week and do all the organising.

It soon became apparent that we were no going to attract an elite singing group with perfect pitch and unerring sight-reading ability. Turning this into a feature, the group became a home for those who wanted to sing and who were willing to make an effort. There were no auditions, and I can only think of one person we asked to leave because they distracted everyone else with their off-key singing.

This was how we saw ourselves in the beginning.

Singing out loud. Singing out proud

The Reading Gay Men's Chorus was formed in June 2003 and became the Reading Gay Chorus after gay women had been invited to join the chorus for a series of Xmas Carol Parties in December 2003. This was such a success that it was decided to make the arrangement permanent.

The chorus offers gay men and women an opportunity to meet and indulge their passion for singing in a safe and friendly environment.

We sing jazz songs, the blues, songs from shows and anything else that seems like fun to do, with the occasional lyrical tweak to suit a gay audience.

The only requirement is that you are a gay man or woman and that you want to sing and have fun. There are no auditions and you do not have to be an experienced singer - you just need to have the desire to sing with other gay guys and gals.

The chorus Musical Director Anthony Witt, is one of Berkshire's leading singing and vocal coaches and rehearsals include exercises and lessons from him which members have found to be very useful.

In the beginning rehearsals were held in Anthony's home.

We set about rehearsing for our first concert to be held in Anthony’s garden.

This was followed by preparing for our first real public outings which would be Christmas Carols. BBC Radio Berkshire liked the story when I approached them, and I was fortunate enough to be invited several times to talk initially about the Gay Chorus and then just on Gay issues.

Socialising was a big part of the activities and we usually relocated to the pub after Sundays afternoon rehearsals. We had a visit from Attitude magazine who did a nice double page spread, and slowly the word started to spread.

All this publicity attracted a number of Gay women who wanted to sing, and after some soul searching and discussions with the guys in the chorus, we invited the women to join us just for Christmas. After a while however, it became obvious that the girls were there for good and so the chorus changed, I think for the better.

That first Christmas was great fun. We had someone signing for the blind, and he occasionally joined to accompany us of his violin. We had the Mayor of Reading and the Member of Parliament come to the Gay pub for our concert too.

We were fortunate to be able to arrange a residency at the South Street Arts Centre and in fact became their first permanent residents - which is possibly why we got such a good deal.

After a while the chorus set about organising itself better, forming a committee and slowly taking over the running of the chorus and leaving me free to concentrate on conducting.

Unfortunately, after a while I felt unable to continue and left. I loved working with the chorus, and am so very glad that it has continued, and now seems to be expanding.

The chorus has now expanded into the Thames Valley Gay Chorus and further details can be found on their web site. http://www.thamesvalleygaychorus.org.uk/