North Yorkshire choir at national Festival of Remembrance

Members of North Yorkshire’s Service Children Community Choir 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.

Choir rehearsals (Image: NORTH YORKSHIRE COUNCIL) 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 North Yorkshire councillors’ locality budgets.

The authority’s Armed Forces Champion, Cllr Kevin Foster, donated £500 from his locality budget and the leader of the council, 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 great to follow the children’s choir over the years and it is a very emotional experience.

Choir rehearsals (Image: NORTH YORKSHIRE COUNCIL) “I had a great time seeing the practice again and was 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.

Ken Cooke (Image: NORTH YORKSHIRE COUNCIL) “This is a 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, the service children’s champion for North Yorkshire Council 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.

A Remembrance event in Ripon (Image: NORTH YORKSHIRE COUNCIL) “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 teaches them a wide range of musical skills. The choir is supported by several 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 (November 6) 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 North Yorkshire Council’s 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 live-streamed to enable as many as possible of the county’s 3,560 service children to view it.

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, November 9).