‘Voices of Armed Forces Children’ on Britain’s Got Talent
Under the Trust’s programme ‘Sustaining Support‘ Never Such Innocence were awarded a £50,000 grant to help deliver creative workshops to Service Families across the UK.
As well as providing valuable outlets for young people to have their voices heard, the incredibly successful choir appeared on Britain’s Got Talent, where they didn’t leave a dry eye in the house.
The children had been rehearsing at the Guards’ Chapel in London, when, much to their surprise, Simon Cowell walked out and invited them to audition on BGT. The children were very excited and surprised, several of them having dreamt to perform on BGT. The rest of that weekend, they worked incredibly hard to be stage ready for the audition on Monday.
Performing infront of millions on BGT
At the audition, 48 military children (aged 6-18 years old) from across England and Scotland performed the song Welcome Home to a live audience at the London Palladium. Welcome Home had been written during a Never Such Innocence songwriting workshop. The song was written by two service children from Plymouth, together with a group of Royal Navy parents and a Never Such Innocence songwriting practitioner.
Following this, the choir was invited to perform a new song for the BGT live semi final at the Eventim Apollo. The children took part in a songwriting workshop. Songwriters, Bethzienna Williams, David Tobin and Jeff Meagan wove together all of the children’s voices to create Stand Up.
From the onset of both songs, the audience was clapping and by the end of the performance, the young people were given a standing ovation.
Service children already face so many changing circumstances, the project was and still is providing stability for them, as they can participate no matter where they are located and will make strong connections with other service children. Never Such Innocence aims to amplify the voices of service children on service life. Following their performances, they have been bubbling with excitement – so proud of their accomplishments and so they should be! At the Trust, we were so proud to see those service children, proudly representing a community, built on courage and resilience, singing their hearts out to an audience of millions.
“As parents we feel proud of Isla and blessed that she got this opportunity. We are thrilled that Isla got to live out her dream to go on BGT. As part of the military community I think it’s so important that our children got the opportunity to be involved in something like this. They experience so many downfalls that come with being a military family such as moving house and school lots, Daddy going away on deployments, including special times like missing birthdays and events and having to make new friends all of the time. This opportunity meant Isla “made lots of new friends” and that they were involved in a positive side of military life.” Parent of Isla, 7 years old
“Just so pleased the children have had this fantastic platform to raise awareness for all Service children in the U.K. Awareness of how tough it can be for them at times but at the same time they have so much pride in their Serving family members. And such a perfect opportunity to show how AMAZING they all are!”
Parent of Dora, 7 years old
“Honey had tears of happiness, she looked stunned as she walked off the stage and incredibly proud. She couldn’t stop talking about the reaction, the judges and meeting Ant and Dec! The adrenaline was pumping and the excitement lasted until we got home where tiredness overwhelmed her! Throughout the day her pride shone through. A very special memory seeing her so very happy and confident.”
Parent of Honey, 13 years old
“Charlie was so excited to tell us all about what they did and saw. The whole day she told us she was so proud of what they did and that she cried with happiness once they got off stage.”
Parent of Charlie, 10 years old
Please find a link to the music video of Welcome Home and a Documentary about the making of the Abbey Road recording. Video recorded and edited by SVJfilm. Welcome Home can also be found on Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon.
If your organisation supports the Armed Forces Community in any way, you may be eligible for funding. Have a look at our programmes page to see what is available.