TV star serenades residents at Belong Atherton

Christmas came early for residents and guests at Belong Atherton, when singer Jolan, finalist of BBC One’s hit show, The Voice, visited to provide a special performance.

Jolan, who is originally from Bolton, gained fame when he impressed celebrity judges Boy George, Paloma Faith and Ricky Wilson in his audition for The Voice 2016 series. He went on to win second place in the grand final of the competition and has been writing and performing music ever since.

The star is a regular visitor at Belong Atherton, where his grandmother, Bet Ward, lives in an independent living apartment and happily agreed to perform in the village’s Bistro, where he treated audience members to renditions of popular songs.

Gemma Willetts, Experience Coordinator at Belong Atherton, commented: “We all had a wonderful time at Jolan’s concert and thoroughly enjoyed having a celebrity guest at the village! Music is always an extremely powerful way of bringing people together, and it's particularly effective in engaging our customers with dementia. It was lovely to see residents and guests singing along to songs that they recognised.

“We’d like to thank Jolan very much for performing at the village now that he has become such a big star and hope that he comes to visit us all again soon!”