A few tips from me:

1. It's a great thing to do!

2. If you're just starting out, do offer gigs for free, or for a nominal cost. If they like you, you're more likely to be able to charge something next time. And word will get around that you're worth inviting.

But don't ever see this as a money maker. I've never achieved more than covering my costs, to be honest. I know that some people do make more, but it's not a lucrative career! Just do it for the love of the music, and to bring some joy into the lives of older people. If there's also a bit of pocket money for you at the end, that's just an extra bonus.

3. Don't sing Victorian parlour songs and WW1 songs! Well, maybe just 1 or 2 occasionally.

Before my first such gig, at a club for older people where I was a volunteer driver, I asked advice from the people I was transporting to and from the club. One lady said to me, "Please don't sing us all those old songs from our parents' and grandparents' days, like lots of people do! Our generation likes Elvis and The Beatles!"

4. Give out some inexpensive percussion instruments - shakers, woodblocks, etc - so that people can join in physically as well as vocally. They will really enjoy taking part in that way! (But do clean the instruments afterwards with alcohol gel, to avoid cross-contamination, before taking them on to the next home.)

You'll also need to check beforehand with the staff at the home whether it's okay to give out instruments.

5. If the size of the room doesn't require amplification, move around the room sometimes while singing, maybe even sitting with a group at the back for a song. It makes it much more personal and inclusive, and adds the interest of your music coming from different directions.

6. Spend some time chatting with the people before and/or after the gig. Older people are well worth getting to know, and it's so much nicer than just turning up, singing and disappearing again.

7. Ask in advance whether there are 2 or 3 songs that the group would particularly like. (Don't make it open-ended, or you might get a list of 50 requests!) If you then need to have the words in front of you for those couple of songs, no one will care! They'll just be glad to be able to sing along to songs that they love.

8. It's worth preparing - at your own expense - some laminated word sheets to hand out for maybe 4 or 5 of the most popular songs. These can be collected up afterwards, cleaned (as with the instruments) and used again, so the expense will only occur once.

Andy7

P.S.

"Almost the entire sector is run by fat cats who pay all their staff as little as possible."

I know from personal experience that this sweeping statement is unjustified. But I won't go into that here, it's a 'below the line' topic.