Music has brought back magic to the lives of a group of elderly Maitland residents living with Parkinson's Disease.
Helen Tolhurst discovered she could no longer sing when she attempted a lullaby for her grandson.
"I gave up. When you've got Parkinson's it steals a lot from you, bit by bit," she said.
But when the Maitland Parkinson's Disease Support Group choir formed in August 2022, Ms Tolhurst was determined to sing again.
"This has given something back to me that I thought was gone," she said.
For choir member Grahame Scott, he went from being a confident tuba player for 50 years to not being able to move his fingers.
"This group has made a difference to my life. While I can't play a tuba anymore, I can still be involved in music by singing," he said.
The choir meets on Tuesdays on a fortnightly basis at St James Church in Morpeth to sing songs from the classics to Broadway, before socialising over coffee and cake.
"We go away feeling very uplifted," member Louise Bowden, who cares for her husband, said.
Ms Bowden said the reason for starting the choir was to help improve the voice and mouth movements of those living with the disease
"Voice becomes quieter and it affects the muscles in the throat, so we thought that singing would be a benefit," she said.
Ms Tolhurst said her speech pathologist told her being part of the choir was "the best thing she could do".
"What I've found is that it's just joyful in itself, it's not for the benefits that I come anymore. It's because I like it," she said.
"I think it's very encouraging that even though you've got this horrible disease you can still find some light and hope in your life."
The choir is steered by musical duo Trevor and Denise McGowan-Slee who say they feel proud and honoured to help the group.
"Music as a person alone is not as enjoyable as when you come together," Ms McGowan-Slee said.
"The fact they wake up every day not sure what within their body is going to work, but they set about making it work to the best of their ability."
The group awarded Trevor and Denise as Maitland's Parkinson's heroes this month for bringing joy into everyone's lives.
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