THESE Bournemouth women are raising their voices for the power of positive thinking.

The ladies are part of Positive Notes, a year-old choir set up by personal performance coach Suzanne Miles.

And all came to join the choir through Suzanne’s courses at children’s centres.

The choir mistress, who runs Inner Vision Coaching, said: “I run personal development courses that aim to teach people confidence, and that’s really how this all came about.

“A girl who came to all of my courses went through some massive changes in terms of her confidence and she asked if we could start a choir that would help other people too. It just seemed like such a brilliant idea.”

Suzanne said the group has gone from strength to strength with the help of choir leaders Helen Southey and Priscilla Roxburgh from Citygate Church.

One recent performance at a glitzy Bournemouth Borough Council awards evening saw the women perform in front of 400 people. Later, the ladies took to the steps outside of the Pavilion to sing to those arriving for pantomime Aladdin.

Rachel Wright, 22, from Poole, met Suzanne while she visited the Stokewood and Winton Children’s Centre with son Alfie, now two-and-a-half.

She said: “We’ve done loads of performances over the summer, which was amazing.

“I finished all of Suzanne’s courses at the centre and she suggested that I took part. It’s been so much fun – I’ve always loved singing and I sing some of the solos now, so it’s great.”

Suzanne said: “I really believe that singing can help with confidence, and it’s really brave of every member of the choir to stand up in front of people and sing. Some of the women here will have had a tough time of it at home, and the chance to do this has changed a bit of that, so I’m very proud of all of them.”