Is there anybody there?

A report out last week suggested more than half of Brits think it’s possible to talk to the dead and more than a third have tried to contact a loved one through a psychic or a medium. What’s more, a whopping 60% believe they’ve seen a ghost. It seems a huge number of us want to believe there’s something “out there”.

So is the psychic world hocus-pocus or is it simply heavenly?

Ali Kirker went to a spiritualist church to find out . . .

I’M in a brightly-lit room belting out All Things Bright and Beautiful with 30 people I’ve never met before.

I’m in a town in central Scotland, but I could be in any one of hundreds of spiritualist churches across Britain. It seems business is booming it’s a freezing Wednesday night, but that hasn’t put people off coming out. The place is absolutely packed. It’s not a normal Wednesday for me. Come on, Corrie’s on. But the report out last week has me intrigued. I interviewed The Sunday’s Post’s resident psychic June Field recently and that’s made me more curious about the “other side”.

Could it be the dozens of people in this room are actually on to something? Are the cynics among us missing out on something truly magical, even other-worldly?

A church elder asks if it’s my first time. I reply it is and I’m a bit nervous. He tells me someone will come over to tell me what will happen which makes me even more nervous.

I want to hide at the back but I’ve arrived too late and have to take a seat near the front. There’s only one man in the congregation and he stares off into space in a complete daze. He looks like he’s been dragged along under sufferance by his wife and is dreaming of being at home watching Arsenal’s Champions’ League match.

I’m sitting next to Jean, an elderly lady, who tells me she’s been coming to the church for four years and loves it.

I glance around the room. It’s mainly middle-aged and elderly women. One looks really posh her clothes look expensive, she sports manicured nails and perfectly applied make-up. The rest are much more casual.

A woman sells raffle tickets and we all buy them, then a friendly Glaswegian called Tracy bounds over to talk to me.

“Don’t worry, it will all be fine we’re a friendly bunch. But if you’re asked to take a spirit, say yes or no. Don’t just nod, they need to hear you,” she says.

I tell her I was worried no one would be here and she replies that often people have to be turned away. No one’s allowed to stand due to health and safety regulations.

At the front of the room, there’s a table with two women behind it. One stands up to introduce the visiting medium, Sheena. She’s a jovial, chubby woman who looks like everyone’s granny.

She takes a prayer and then leads All Things Bright and Beautiful. All seven verses, plus seven choruses, with gusto. They love to sing, this gang.

I catch Sheena’s eye and she winks at me as the song ends. I gulp.

“Lady in the glasses, can you take Alastair?” she asks, looking at me.

“Ermmm . . . no!” I half-giggle, half-stammer.

As Alastair is my boss and very much alive and kicking, I’m sure he’ll be relieved to hear that. “How about Alan or Ali, I’m getting a man with an A” she says.

I put my head down but Jean says yes and the medium gives her a reading, saying an elderly man who was confused towards the end of his life is “with” Jean and sending her a lot of love and support.

It’s easy to be cynical, but Jean turns to me, grips my hand and smiles. She clearly gets so much comfort from it.

Just then, the door opens and a boy and two girls burst in. They’re about 19 and I get the feeling they’re going to be trouble maybe they’ve come in on the spur of the moment to see if they can have some fun at the expense of the congregation.

“I have two men. Let’s try to separate them more than one man is trouble, whether here or on the other side! I’ve got Kenneth and I get the feeling he’s an uncle,” Sheena continues.

“Yes!” says the “football fan” I’d spotted earlier. Hmm, clearly not dragged along by his wife, then. In fact, he’s so enthusiastic that instead of just confirming “yes” or “no” to Sheena’s statements, he starts reeling off details of Kenneth’s life.

She puts a hand up and says: “Don’t feed me. Well, feed me chocolate, but nothing else,” and everyone laughs.

Still with our football fan, she goes on to say that his dad is with him. “You’ve a birthday coming up and he’ll be with you at the party,” she says.

“I’m not having a party,” he says, unsure.

“Even if it’s just you and him, it’s a party,” says Sheena, unruffled.

She moves on, saying there’s a woman with her and it’s someone’s granny. One of the teenage girls who came in late puts up her hand.

Within seconds, she’s sobbing, and a box of tissues covered in lace appears out of nowhere and is passed to her.

She nods at everything Sheena says: “Granny not Gran . . . you were the special one . . . you loved to bake with her and you always licked the bowl.”

She agrees in between sobs as her friend hugs her.

I feel annoyed at myself for being so judgmental. It’s clear I’m not one of the 38% who believe they have psychic ability. The session is drawing to a close but, before it does, Sheena asks if anyone can “take” Harry.

No one answers as she tells us a bit more about him.

It goes on and on. I feel uncomfortable and fidget, but everyone else is stock still. Sheena’s just about to move on when our football fan puts up his hand and says: “Sorry, it’s me again!”

A woman raises her eyes to heaven. After the reading, he’s a happy man but asks if he should leave so other people can get a “visit”, to more laughs.

The session continues, with the posh lady getting a “visit” from her mum and a 94-year-old being told her mother begs forgiveness. There’s a lot of talk of love with every reading.

The session ends with a prayer and the raffle is drawn. The prizes are paltry, including J-cloths and tissues, but the winners act like they’ve won the Lottery.

Tea is served and it’s clear from the buzz and chat that this is a community. People know each other it could be any village tea room. Refreshments over, there’s “healing”. You can ask for Sheena to heal those you’re worried about, or yourself.

I’ve got a dodgy shoulder, so I volunteer. I go forward, take off my glasses as instructed and Sheena puts her hand on my shoulder. I can’t say I feel much other than a hand on my shoulder, but maybe these things take time to work . . .

As the service ends, Jean takes my hand. “Come back again soon,” she says, as I disappear into the night.

So am I a convert to the spiritualist world?

Well, it would take a bit more than what I saw to convince me to go out every Wednesday. But every member of the congregation I was in wanted to believe. In fact, most were willing Sheena to have a spirit they could “take”.

It might attract grieving, vulnerable people but they find a community of like-minded souls. And other than some change in the collection plate and money for raffle tickets, it’s not costing them anything.

Everyone in that room had their spirits raised perhaps in more ways than one. If it gives people comfort when they’re going through a hard time, can that really be so bad?

Some names have been changed to protect privacy.