Singing for her succour

REBECCA McGarvie believes that some people who know her only through her arts work in and around Darlington will be surprised when they read about her past. Unaware of her background, they’ll find it difficult to reconcile the bright, chatty, energetic woman with the person she describes from six years ago.

Diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome as she was preparing to take her A-levels, she spent the next two years sleeping up to 18 hours-a-day and going out, when she was able, in a wheelchair. She had to abandon plans for university, getting a job, or simply going out with friends.

It took a surprise holiday organised by the man who became her husband to turn her life around. Today, this vibrant 24-year-old talking to me in a Darlington coffee shop runs a community arts business, Melting Pot Arts, that enables access to the arts through workshops across the North-East.

She’s set up Darlington Arts Academy to enable people to enjoy affordable arts activities.

With more than 100 members, aged between eight and 88, she’s working towards becoming a registered charity so she can expand the work.

Perhaps closest to her heart is the singing group Sing – Sing Inspire Nurture Grow – she formed. “My number one passion is always going to be singing,” says Rebecca.

“I believe that singing has the power to transform lives. When I was poorly I couldn’t sing, I didn’t have the energy. The thing that I loved was taken away from me. Not only did I want to get it back, but I wanted to help others get it.”

She’s only too aware that these days people associate the performing arts with shows like The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent. To be worthwhile, they think they have to be at a certain level or do a certain thing.

Rebecca disagrees. “We say it’s not about what anyone can do, it’s about what YOU can do,” she says.

“We still work at high levels, but we have lots of fun. When the performers come to our workshops, they comment on that. It’s about encouraging people to do their best, but not pressuring them.”

Obviously, she’s conscious of not pushing herself too far. “I’m really lucky, I’ve come to terms with my condition and I’m at peace knowing that I’m 110 per cent clear,” she says.

“I think my body will always respond to me abusing it by saying, ‘stop’, and maybe that’s not such a bad thing.”

She’s always been involved in the arts, even at school in Durham. When she found her secondary school wasn’t doing a production, she and fellow students put on their own show.

It wasn’t her debut production. “When I was ten I produced my first show, getting everyone together in the back garden,” she recalls. “We used the washing line as a backdrop, my sister sold ice creams and we sold tickets to the neighbours.

She and sixth form friends formed Melting Pot Arts as a one-off to stage a show in 2002, hiring the newly-opened Gala Theatre and raising £1,400 for children’s charities.

Then in February 2003, she was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. Her understanding is that it’s caused by stress on the body that manifests itself in different ways in different people.

“For me, it was just being a very busy 16- year-old. I took on a lot of responsibility. I was head girl, I was talking about a part-time job. But you can never say being a busy person is why it happens.

“My body just went, ‘hang on a minute, I’m not too happy with how things are going’. But I don’t blame my lifestyle for it. It was just one of those things that was supposed to happen to me. I really believe everyone has a journey and that’s part of who we are.”

The following two years were “really quite blurry”. She completed some of her A-levels with support from her family, although university was ruled out because she didn’t know if she could complete the course.

“I was housebound for periods, but had an amazing family and support from friends. At times I was sleeping for 18 hours-a-day. I needed a wheelchair. I was unable to walk any distance, maybe 20 yards. I had a whole range of symptoms and physical pain most of the time.

You feel like you’ve been thrown downstairs.

“Everyone deals with the condition differently.

It varies from person to person, and the length of time you’re ill varies.

“I knew I was still there somewhere. I just needed to get through it. It was very much one step forward, three steps back. An extremely frustrating time. You’d get up in the morning and by the time you’d had something to eat and got dressed, you’d need to go back to bed again.”

From being a student, excited at going to university and getting a job in the arts, she was someone with no idea what she was going to do, or even be able to do. Then boyfriend Steve took her on a surprise holiday, in a wheelchair, to Toronto. It proved a turning point for Rebecca for reasons she can’t fully explain.

“I’m not saying you need a surprise holiday to get over a chronic condition, but it was what I needed. When I got back, I spent two weeks sleeping the trip off. Then I woke up and thought, ‘what else maybe can I do?’.”

Through friends, she started teaching singing. Just one pupil, once a fortnight, for an hour was all she could manage. Slowly, very slowly, her life began again.

By June 2005, she was able to work three hours a day. With the help of the Prince’s Trust, she formulated a business plan for Melting Pot Arts and focussed her returning strength on getting it up and running.

“I wanted to know that if I ever went back to having to sleep 18 hours a day, I wouldn’t be lying there thinking that I wasted the six months I was better. I really wanted to try to make a difference to other people.”

Melting Pot Arts has organised arts workshops in everything from dance to drumming across the North-East, in schools, community centres, youth group and at outdoor events.

After marrying Steve, a professional musician and teacher, and moving to Darlington, Rebecca set up Darlington Arts Academy last year. Members have enjoyed workshops and have staged several performances. Her aim is to raise £100,000 in the next year to develop the work.

Sing was a spin-off that now has more than 200 members.

“People came to me and said they wanted to give singing a go but didn’t want to join a formal group because they didn’t feel ready for that. It’s a gentle, nurtured start before joining a larger group,” she says.

“I thought I was starting a singing group, but what I’ve achieved is this happy, family friend.

We have a really strong ethos – how important it is to look after each other and enjoy it.”