Children In Need
Yesterday I spent seven hours in a confined space with 200 children.
And I loved it.
Each year Children In Need does an incredible job of fundraising for those children and families who need support in different ways. It has become tradition that on the night of the fundraising broadcast children from across the country take part in a live performance of a song. It is a wonderful moment when the school pupils of several towns are linked in this collaborative and co-ordinated way.
The children may be on the live broadcast for a few seconds only but those few seconds represent many hours of hard work.
In the Midlands Ruth Roberts, head of the vocal department of Services for Education Music Services, had organised eight schools from across Birmingham to take part. Members of the vocal team prepared these children to sing the “Lean On Me” song for the performance and she expertly conducted the massed choir for the final event.
When I say, prepared these children, I wonder if it gives the full picture of what that involved?
I had two choirs to coach and we worked hard together to make sure that the pupils knew exactly how to sing the song and get it really together with the backing track. That’s obvious, and the easiest part of the project if I’m honest. The other stuff seemed to be harder: how to stand, how to focus on the choir leader and watch for every direction, how not to fidget when performing, how to hold your hands at your side and not fuss with your hair or pick your nose etc etc
You get the picture. These kids worked so hard on the smallest details over the last month and a half, all to take part in this amazing event, with the added bonus of being on TV.
Last night showed me how resilient, patient and long-suffering these kids could be.
There were warm-ups. There were run-throughs of the song. There were retakes and there was A LOT of standing in full lights, waiting for the music to start so we could practise the link up with the other schools.
These 200 children did not complain or make a fuss. They did what they were asked and did so with a great attitude and good grace, because they knew this was important. For some of them, this required enormous effort and sustained concentration, but they did it. Ruth also did a great job at keeping them attentive and focussed in a positive, fun and encouraging way, so the whole afternoon and evening was a brilliant success.
I understand over 47 million pounds was raised last night. A staggering amount that is indicative of people’s generosity and concern. These singers, many of whom are children in need themselves, contributed to this in a special way and made those of us watching them so very proud.