Musical Director Kirsty Baird BEM on BBC Breakfast with Charlie Stayt

Kirsty Baird is honoured to have been awarded a British Empire Medal in recognition of her community and charitable work to support Sing in the City members and local communities during the pandemic. When the pandemic hit and lockdown happened, Kirsty found a way to keep going and wanted to help her members and community feel connected. Her company, Sing in the City was celebrating their tenth year in business this year and had to change their entire operating rhythm. Singing together in rehearsal places was no longer an option due to restrictions as a result of Covid. Supported by Annette Hanley (Musical Director of Sing in the City) and her team they moved rehearsals onto a digital platform and incorporated a whole range of new activities to ensure their members could still interact, learn new skills and continue singing. Through this, she was recognised as It’s Good to Give - Local Hero by Edinburgh Rugby. One of the many initiatives to keep people motivated and engaged was a live acoustic session which Kristy and Annette have performed every Friday since lockdown keeping people connected. Kirsty and Annette’s band “Hanley and the Baird” released a charity single, ‘Follow the Rainbows’ which charted at #3 in the Scottish charts and #27 in the UK Download Charts. The song inspired by their choir members, tells the story of their choir family coming together, overcoming fears and insecurities and replacing these feelings with strength and positivity, whilst raising £5,400 for SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health). This inspired the idea of Kirsty launching Chief Radio, in which the fundamental focus is supporting independent artists, promoting Scottish music and creating a community feel through combining broadcast and social media. Along with Sing in the City and Hanley and the Baird, Chief Radio have raised £11,000 for various charities this year. They have also donated 46 Amazon Alexa devices to date, to care homes across Scotland. The idea was born from the show which Kirsty hosts ‘Rock the Care homes’, focusing on 50/60’s music every Sunday morning. Kirsty realised the people who would enjoy this show most were likely the people in care homes who probably couldn’t easily listen. She created a donation drive o make it easy to listen, enjoy and reminisce. Kirsty has also taken lead on trying to reinstate the Scottish Singles Chart and is encouraging everyone to get behind this. This will ensure the music that the people of Scotland are buying is correctly represented in the UK, musicians maintain the opportunity to be discovered through these channels whilst retaining the recognition prospect. We at Sing in the City and Chief Radio are proud of our founder Kirsty Baird on being recognised for this award. For further information, imagery and interviews please contact; kirsty@singinthecity.com or call 07748 048 060. • www.singinthecity.com www.hanleyandthebaird.com • www.chiefradio.com