The
concert was organised by the young people, who spoke after every mass at the
church one weekend, to try and raise awareness about CRY and the concert.
We got both donations and ticket sales after the first weekend, totalling
£600 already! We made our own posters for the event and displayed them
around the church, as well as in our schools.
CRY was a charity that three of the
performers had worked with before. We knew Cecilia Barriga, a 15 year old
who died from an undiagnosed heart condition, through orchestras and choirs
at Coloma Girls school. At school, we dedicated our last Charities Week to
her, and all money raised went to CRY.
The idea of holding a concert came to
me a couple of weeks before my GCSEs. Cecilia was about to start her GCSEs
when she died, so the reality of it made me want to help to prevent others
from dying before living their lives. Many people came up to us once
we’d spoken at the masses and told us stories of loved ones who had died due
to cardiac diseases. It was shocking to hear of so many people affected by
heart conditions in one parish and was really an eye-opener to just how
important charities like CRY really are.
Throughout
the next couple of weeks, takings had risen to almost £800, and by the
concert day, we had just over £1,100; a stunning sub-total for an event
organised solely by a couple of teenagers who were hoping for £100!
The concert began at 7:30pm. Seven
musicians, six music stands, lost music, four chairs, found music, an hour
and a quarter and eleven instruments later, we had finished the successful
concert. The 157 people who turned up were very impressed with the
“phenomenal” standard of the concert and of the determination of the young
musicians to make a difference.
Naturally, we gave people the option of
donating further at the end of the concert. People put endless numbers of
notes into the collection boxes; it was such a success! We even had
people asking us what date the concert was next year! Donations kept
rolling in, even weeks after the concert! Our final total for CRY was a
huge £1,720 a testimony to what young people today can do when they
work together for a common, worthy cause.
Performers on the night were: Chris
Sharrock (vocal); Adrian Ball (Double Bass); Chris Lambeth
(Cello); Sarah Fretwell (Cello); Katherine Lambeth (violin);
Ruth McConkey (Flute); and Rachel Loughlin (Flute).
Accompanying the performers on piano were Clare McConkey and John Ball.
Katherine Lambeth
