AN Ealing woman is one of the three co-founders behind a London wide jazz choir.

Tina Learmonth who lives in Acton has been singing for over a decade, starting when her two children were getting older and she had some free time on her hands.

She told Nub News: "As my kids got older I had more free time and wanted to try something new.

"I tried my hand at photography and cooking courses, before finally giving singing a go."

Since then, she's been singing as part of community choirs, which is where she met Ben Cox and Arren Stromboli.

The three of them decided to set up their own jazz choir and Jazz Choirs – yes, that's the choir's name – was formed in September 2019.

Jazz Choirs would meet once a week at the Irish Centre in Camden and had plans to set up a venue in West London as well, as many choir members live in the area.

Learmonth said: "Around January last year we started planning to set up a venue in Chiswick so that the 10 or so members we have that live in Ealing, Hounslow and Richmond don't have to travel to Camden, which during rush hour can take over an hour."

That all came to a sudden halt in March when the first national lockdown was announced.

Since then, all sessions have moved online - Tuesdays 18:15-20:15 – and talks of a new West London based venue have paused.

Jazz Choirs pre-COVID had around 60 members, but due to the restrictions imposed in the last 10 months, this number has decreased.

"We are actively looking for more people who would like to join.

"We're open to all abilities, you don't need to audition, you just need to love singing," added Learmonth.

Those who are interested can do a free taster session that doesn't require them to commit to joining full-time.

The mum-of-two can't wait for things to go back to normal, because even though she enjoys the virtual sessions via Zoom, the feeling of being in the physical space with her friends is sorely missed, she said.

"We've tried to make the most of the current situation, we've been putting videos online and have recorded a song for one of our members who was in hospital, we're a real community.

"It's just a shame we can't be around each other in person and do gigs and social events, but once the time comes, we'll make the most of it" she added.