THE county singing group for people with Parkinson's Disease has relaunched itself with a new director and a new name - the Herefordshire Canaries.

The new director is Claire Fowler who said the name was chosen by members to mark the centenary of the First World War and to honour the 4,000 women who worked in the Herefordshire munitions factory at Rotherwas during the war.

The munitions workers were nicknamed the Canary Girls because the dangerous chemicals they worked with stained their skin yellow.

The singing group was founded in 2006 by a Herefordshire man living with Parkinson's, Michael Canavan.

Parkinson's Disease can affect the voice and the county group has helped pioneer the use of warm up vocal exercises and singing as speech therapy.

The group has been running for over ten years and now comes under the Hereford and District Parkinson's Society. A group of residents from a Herefordshire care home for seniors also attends the group.

"The benefits of singing as speech therapy and for people affected by stroke, lung disease, dementia and other long term conditions, are now well established," said Claire.

"As a bonus, it also gets people out to socialise, to mix with others in the same position, to have fun and above all - sing!" she added.

The group meets every first and third Wednesday in the month in St Martin's Church Hall, Holme Lacy Road from 10.30am to 12.30pm.