Stagecoach

 

Aaron Chilton from the Saturday AM Stagecoach school has been experiencing some exciting times lately as his dad Sgt Major Gary Chilton has been the lead singer in “The Soldiers” singing group whose album went platinum before Christmas. Gary has played in some fantastic venues like The Royal Albert Hall and was seen recently as a guest on the National Lottery programme releasing the balls for the numbers of the winning lottery ticket to be selected. And then I spotted him again leading the national anthem at The Royal Variety Show in Blackpool. Within days of that being shown, Gary turned up at our fundraising concert at Teesside High to support us and brought another member of the group with him - Lance Corporal Ryan Idzi, pictured on the left of the photo. If he looks familiar it is because Ryan got to the boot camp phase of “The X Factor” the year before this one. He caught Danii Minogue`s eye on the programme. Unfortunately I did not manage to get a photo of the boys at our concert on the night,  so have “borrowed” this from their web site.

I`m sure that you would join with me in applauding what “The Soldiers” have done to promote appreciation for the job that the armed forces are doing out in Afghanistan and for raising cash to help those who are casualties of the war.

Their presence was the icing on the cake for us in what was  a very special night indeed for Stagecoach Darlington and Yarm. I believe that some of the very best work we have ever produced was on display there, in a show of co-operation and selflessness that was quite simply heart-warming.

Every school presented themselves in their best light, some coping with last minute changes because of absentees but still singing out and performing confidently. Getting seven schools staged for the whole school songs was a challenge but all the students behaved impeccably and my - what a spectacle it was to see everyone sing all at the same time - and what a beautiful sound they made. Those songs must have been a highlight of the show for many.

The idea for the concert was to honour Singing Sue`s successful battle with cancer this last year. It is to Sue`s credit that she chose her music carefully and well and had a vision of what could be created by them. It is also to the credit of all the music staff of all the schools that they brought the students up to a uniform high standard and worked together as a team -  not only on the day but throughout the term to bring about such successful performances.

I thought that the audience was never going to stop clapping at the end and the students` faces shone as they won a standing ovation.

My heartfelt thanks go out to the chaperones who were tireless in their care of the children back stage and in their various fund-raising roles as helpers on stalls and raffles etc at the interval. Without their selfless donation of their time we would not have had a show at all. Adults and children co-operated together so that the whole event went like clockwork.

My thanks also go to Stagecoach staff who turned out in their own time to support us in any way they could. They just got stuck in - no complaints and worked so hard - Troopers to a man!

We had able technical help from The Forum Music Centre who provided Ethan as sound man to run the concert. He always does a grand job. Dave Cooil brought his family Lesley and Daisy in support to film the concert and sell the dvds (giving a donation of £1 for every dvd sold to Cancer Research). It is not too late to order a dvd. Most of the students have not seen the concert they were in apart from the parts that they performed in so I think that they would enjoy doing so. You should contact Dave, via his web site, www.rightclickstudios.com , if you have lost your order form.

Special mention should go to Nathan Fooks from Friday school`s Stage 3 who passionately wanted to work on the technical side in support of our concert. He brought his friend along and they looked after the lighting side of things. Well done and thank you lads.

Yarm Further Stages took a leading role in proceedings because the concert was in their venue. They organised and manned all the refreshments in the interval, with very little help, and more importantly fell into learning extra work so that they could provide the comedy interludes that linked all the songs in the concert together.  I always say that our students are good at “winging it” because we have to achieve so much with them in so little time. This was a supreme example of “winging it”. The last sections of script arrived with them off my fevered pen on the morning of the concert and they learnt everything at the drop of a hat, rehearsed with their Drama teacher Jodie beyond the initial short amount of stage time that they were allocated and pulled off a performance that was funny, charming, sometimes poignant but always professional. Brilliant!  Thank you to the people who gave me stories of infant assemblies that they had experienced as inspiration for some of the story lines.

Thank you to the advertisers who paid to appear on the back of the concert programme. Their page appears at the end of this piece.

 Thank you also to the people who either manned their own stalls to sell craft items in aid of Cancer Research or who sent goods  or baking in. Where any items were left unsold, I have donated them to a Cancer Research charity shop.

And now as to what money was raised for Cancer Research? After all the bills have been paid - and thank you to Teesside High for reducing the venue cost and Dave Cox from the Forum for reducing the sound costs - I will be able to round it up to *£2200* to send as a cheque to Cancer Research UK, once the last dribbles of money come in at the start of term. That is such a very worthwhile amount that you have all helped us to be able to donate. Well done!

It was a strangely moving experience when it came to removing the tags that people had sent in for our Christmas tree in the entrance hall - in support of, or in remembrance of, family and friends who had suffered from Cancer. I have to say that I was moved to tears. It does not seem right to just throw those cards away so I am going to burn them and then spread the ashes in the lovely and tranquil grounds of Teesside High School. That seems somehow more fitting and respectful. I hope that you agree. If you do not and would like to reclaim your tag then please let me know before 15th  January and I will gladly return it.

In conclusion, the concert gave so much to many people on many levels and that made it very special. It raised a significant amount of money for a charity which benefits mankind. It celebrated the work and life of our Singing teacher Sue, who is gratefully looking forward to 2010, with her young family, because of the charity and what it has been able to achieve in its research so far in a cure for breast cancer. The concert also brought us all together - students, staff, parents and other organisations as one community, celebrating our talents and supporting one another.  AND it gave me one of those precious and rare memories that warm your heart when you look back on them - priceless!

 

 

This entry was posted on Friday, January 1st, 2010 at 2:47 am and is filed under Post-Show Comments, News, Parents, Scrapbook. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.