When you’re tucking into your food and drink at Vine House Farm you might get a special surprise thanks to a song-loving employee.
Jane Howell has been singing since she was eight-years-old, particularly since her dad John Daniels appeared on TV’s Opportunity Knocks talent show.
Wherever she’s been, she likes to sing, hitting all the right notes while working at Wyevale in Crowland, and also for children as a school dinner lady.
She now sings while serving people in the cafe since it opened in July 2021.
“There was a lady in who looked really special,” said Jane when asked how she first started singing at Vine House.
“I went up to and said she looked really nice and she told me she’d just got married. It was their wedding breakfast.
“I just felt like I wanted to sing to them, so I sang ‘Wonderful World’ and that’s like my signature tune.
“I think the staff thought I was joking when I asked to sing. Luckily they liked it.
“They said if it’s a birthday, an anniversary or even just a gloomy day when I sing ‘The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow’ then I can.
“It just cheers some people up. I love it and if it makes people happy, that’s great.
“I do make people cry sometimes though. There was a lady recently who was 89 and I sang it, but she did say it was lovely.
“On Mother’s Day I was singing and crying at myself singing Mother of Mine as I lost my mum Ann Daniels in January.
“I get a little bit overwhelmed when they clap. I enjoy the applause but it’s the person I’m singing to’s day.”
Jane says she takes requests, sometimes having to look up the lyrics on her mobile phone if she doesn’t know all the words.
She has even started a choir made up of people who work at Vine House. They practice after hours at the café.
Manager Karen Pearson said: “Everybody loves Jane.
“We have customers come in and say is Jane in or will she sing? A lot of them love a sing-song.
“She’s lovely, and a really hard working person.”
Jane lives in Crowland with husband Richard and they have two daughters, Rachel and Jenny.
Outside of work she’s sung with a host of choirs, at various events including at Peterborough Cathedral and also at ceremonies including funerals and weddings.
“People come in and hear me and it’s taken me all over the place,” Jane continued. “I’ve been asked to do numerous Women’s Institutes.
“If I do get paid for these, I’ve a couple of charities I like to donate to.
“The Stroke Society because my mum had a stroke and the British Heart Foundation because my dad died from a heart attack and asthma charities as I have asthma.
“I’m not sure how much I’ve raised over the years.”
Jane will be singing on Christmas Eve at 5pm on the Green Triangle in Deeping St Nicholas.
