The Congleton U3A Beartown Ukes gradually developed out of the Congleton U3A Ukulele Group which was set up in January 2013 and was, literally, just a handful of people. Fortunately, someone in the group knew how to play the ukulele and the numbers grew year upon year.
Over time, several members got involved with playing for local organisations and as this ‘side-line’ activity developed the group eventually became known as the Beartown Ukes. This is now a separate Congleton U3A group but one which has a significant overlap with the original group which is still running.
As our repertoire and performance skills have developed, we have been proud to represent Congleton U3A by playing for quite a few organisations and/or events, including Residential Care Homes, Women’s Institutes, Astbury May Day, Congleton Ex-Servicemen’s Association, Eaton Garden Party, Etruria Canal Boat Festival, Congleton Less-Abled Group, Biddulph Ukulele Group Day, Congleton Jazz and Blues Festival 2021 and Congleton Unplugged 2017, 2018 and 2019.
We play a wide range of music including popular songs from the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s, folk songs, modern popular songs, songs from the wars, Christmas songs, etc. which we can tailor to our audience and the occasion.
We are open to requests from anyone to play and sing at their organisation and/or event. As a Congleton U3A group we are not able to play for a fee but if a donation is on offer we request that it is made to the charity of our choice. We often play for free at community events or for community organisations, as supporting the local community is very important to us.