A children’s choir from North Yorkshire is set to hit the high notes when it performs at the “illustrious” Royal Albert Hall in London tomorrow (Saturday).
Final rehearsals are taking place for members of North Yorkshire’s Service Children Community Choir who will honour those who made the ultimate sacrifice in war with their rendition of Bill Withers classic “Lean on Me” in front of an audience including members of the Royal Family at the annual Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance.
The group of 32 young people to take centre stage are from The Wensleydale School, Risedale School, St Francis Xavier School in Richmond, Richmond Methodist School, Wavell Junior School in Catterick Garrison, Le Cateau Community Primary School, Bolton On Swale Church of England Primary School in Richmond and Michael Syddall Church of England Primary School in Catterick.
While the choir’s travel, food and accommodation costs have been covered by the Royal British Legion, they’ve been given a cash boost of £800 from councillors’ locality budgets.
Each council member has a budget of £10,000 per year to allow them to respond to local needs by supporting specific community-led activities. Each councillor is responsible for determining how they wish to use the budget.
The authority’s Armed Forces Champion, Cllr Kevin Foster, donated £500 from his locality budget and the leader, Cllr Carl Les, a further £300 to purchase matching hoodies for the children and young people to wear on the trip to London.
Cllr Foster, who is also a ward councillor for the Catterick Garrison area, said: “It has been really great to follow the children’s choir over the years and it is a very emotional experience.
“I had a great time seeing the practice again and was really pleased to hear they are going to perform at the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday. I have been very lucky to have been offered tickets by the Royal British Legion to attend and will be so proud watching the choir represent us all.
“I was more than happy to answer the call to support the project with my locality budget to supply jackets.”
Cllr Les added: “For the choir to perform at the annual remembrance concert at the Royal Albert Hall is a poignant commemoration to the men and women who have lost their lives fighting for their country.
“This is proud moment for the county and I was more than delighted to support this worthwhile cause with a donation from my locality budget to make the trip as memorable as possible.”
Angela Campbell, service children’s champion and the chair of the Service Children’s Network, founded the choir in 2018. She says the choristers are honoured to have been invited to perform at such a “prestigious and poignant” event.
She added: “The choir has very much become a family and we have been on lots of adventures together, but this is the adventure-of-a-lifetime.
“Everything we do at the choir is centred on ensuring that children and young people from military-connected families feel valued and supported. Our team of music specialists build their confidence when performing and teach them a wide range of musical skills. The choir is supported by a number of volunteers from the local area.
“We shall wait to see them shine at the illustrious Royal Albert Hall. We know that the military community of North Yorkshire will be very proud of them all.”
Meanwhile, more than 600 children of Armed Forces personnel stationed in North Yorkshire gathered at Ripon Cathedral on Wednesday (6 November) as they joined 98-year-old D-Day veteran Ken Cooke for their own festival of remembrance.
Pupils from 23 of the county’s schools attended the service, which was the 12th event to be organised by our Service Children’s Champions, who support youngsters in the county’s large number of families involved in the military services. For the third year, the service was livestreamed to enable as many as possible of the county’s 3,560 service children to view it.
Among the civic dignitaries and special guests at the event were York and North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith, The Lord Mayor of York Cllr Margaret Wells, Brigadier David Madden DL, The Dean of Ripon, the Very Rev John Dobson DL, corporate director of children and young people’s service, Stuart Carlton, Cllr Kevin Foster, young people’s champion, Cllr Alyson Baker, and Mr Cooke, who took part in the D-Day landings at Gold Beach as a Green Howards private.
Executive member for children and families, Cllr Janet Sanderson, said: “Each year, these services are not only a poignant act of remembrance, but a beautiful celebration of the identity and achievements of the military children whose families make such an important contribution to our county.
“We were honoured and delighted to welcome Mr Cooke who shared memories of the Normandy landings of June 1944 with the children.”
Executive member for education, learning and skills, Cllr Annabel Wilkinson, added: “More than 230 schools around North Yorkshire have service children on roll. The schools work throughout the year to support our young people’s needs with pastoral care, working alongside our service children’s champion.
“It’s lovely to see the schools and children come together and contribute to a memorable event like this at the cathedral.”
Meanwhile, Cllr Alyson Baker said she was looking forward to the service children choir coming under the national spotlight when making their debut on stage.
She added: “It will be amazing and sheer joy to see the young people sing their hearts out at the Royal Albert Hall in front of a huge audience,” she said. “I look forward with anticipation to the concert on Saturday.”
North Yorkshire’s Service Children Choir’s performance will be broadcast during a programme featuring the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance on BBC1 at 9pm tomorrow (Saturday, 9 November).