Layla Watson – Rock Choir Plymouth
Layla was just 15 when she took part in her first Rock Choir Christmas performance.
She was anxious, had never done anything quite like it before and wasn’t sure how she would find performing in front of an audience.
Thankfully, she wasn’t doing it alone.
Layla had discovered Rock Choir through her Gran, who joined alongside her and has been part of her journey ever since. With her Gran and the other Rockies around her at that first Christmas concert, something began to change.
“I was able to enjoy it and have the confidence to just let my guard down, sing loud and proud and dance along at the end!”
It was an early glimpse of the confidence Layla would gradually discover through being part of Rock Choir in Plymouth.
Finding somewhere to turn
As life changed outside choir, Rock Choir became increasingly important to Layla.
After leaving secondary school, she struggled with changes in both her family life and education. Even during times when she couldn’t physically attend rehearsals, she says Rock Choir remained something she could turn to.
“Before Choir I was quite inside of myself. I didn’t speak to people, I just sat there and watched the world go by.”
Over time, singing and being surrounded by the choir community helped Layla find the confidence to put herself out there more.
For her, that change has extended far beyond rehearsals and performances.
Coming back felt like she had never left
After spending a long period away from Rock Choir for health reasons, Layla eventually felt ready to return.
Understandably, coming back after so much time away could have felt daunting. Instead, it became one of her favourite Rock Choir memories.
“It felt like nothing had changed. Everyone was so lovely, it felt like I had not missed a day.”
This time, Layla returned with her assistance dog.
She needed the people around her to understand and respect the boundaries she had put in place, and says the response from fellow members made returning much easier.
“Everyone was so respectful of the boundaries I put in place and everyone understood.”
For Layla, returning also became an opportunity to advocate confidently for both her own needs and those of her assistance dog.
From watching the world go by to standing on stage
Perhaps one of the clearest examples of how much Layla’s confidence has grown came away from Rock Choir altogether.
After putting herself forward more and becoming increasingly confident, Layla was named Inspirational Young Person of the Year at the Plymouth Youth Awards.
Accepting the award meant getting onto a stage and speaking into a microphone, things Layla says she once wouldn’t have imagined herself doing.
“Without Choir, I wouldn’t have gotten up on the stage to accept it. I wouldn’t have spoken into the microphone, and I probably wouldn’t have even made it out of the house.”
For someone who remembers once sitting quietly and watching the world go by, it was a significant moment.
“It helped me find myself”
Layla has also valued seeing conversations around mental health acknowledged within the wider Rock Choir community. She says Rock Choir’s activities around Mental Health Awareness Week helped her feel safer attending and reassured that people would try to understand.
Today, some of the changes Layla describes might seem like everyday things to somebody else, but to her they represent just how far she has come.
She can enjoy experiences without the same level of anxiety she once felt. She has greater confidence to advocate for herself. With her assistance dog beside her, she can go out independently.
And she can look back at that anxious 15-year-old preparing for her first Christmas concert and see how much has changed.
“Choir helped me find myself, it gave me my confidence back, and most importantly it gave me my life back.”
