Saturday 7th July 2007 brought parishioners from St Edmund’s Church, Beckenham together to listen to the talents of seven of the parish’s highly talented young musicians.

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