The Big Christmas Care Singalong, featuring care providers across the UK and abroad, is set to return for a second year this Christmas. The hour-long online concert will be broadcast in care homes, hospitals, hospices, and people’s own homes on 20 December to celebrate all those who live and work in social care.

The video has been spearheaded by Big Ian Donaghy, a well-known and outspoken advocate for the social care sector who has published numerous books on kindness and dementia. Big Ian has been developing the video in partnership with everyLIFE Technologies, provider of PASS, a care management platform for all care settings. 

Big Ian Donaghy said: “I’m incredibly excited for the release of this year’s video, which promises to once again galvanise all those who live and work in social care. Expect the unexpected. You will laugh, and you may cry, as people share their stories.”

Last year’s event was watched by thousands of people who live and work in the social care sector, with viewers coming from the UK and further afield in Australia, New Zealand and Venezuela. The online concert, which was described as “funny, heart-warming and heart-breaking in equal measure”, was created in response to the isolation experienced by many vulnerable people during the festive period. With Covid-19 causing significant disruption to the social care sector, the Big Christmas Care Singalong was a welcome reprieve from the challenges of the pandemic. 

The free-to-watch concert will feature care home residents and team members performing their favourite Christmas songs and wishing festive cheer to all, across the country. Viewers will also hear a brass performance of In the Bleak Midwinter, arranged and performed by one of the UK’s most recorded musicians, Johnny Thirkell. Johnny has previously toured and recorded with the likes of Kylie Minogue, George Michael and Bruno Mars.

The video is available to watch on-demand at www.thebigchristmascaresingalong.com