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Mass singing tomorrow

28th November 2014 @ 6:06am – by Webteam
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As regular readers will know, Audlem has been involved in an amazing community effort in recent weeks – all to raise money to pay for a local resident's cancer treatment as it isn't available on the NHS.

The community's rendition of Amazing Grace has already featured a thousand local people.

The mass singing on the church mound at St James' on Saturday at 12.30pm is now the focus of attention and hopefully, hundreds will be there for what promises to be an emotional experience. And the Lord Combermere has kindly offered free chips and baps afterwards to the singers.

The background is that this summer, Berni Cliffe's two daughters started a fund-raising website called Mend our Mum. Ideas started to flow in as well as donations and sponsorships.

A mass fancy dress walk, special meals, quiz nights and so much more have been underway and have raised a third of the target of £100,000.

Then, in one of Audlem's pubs, up popped the idea of a DVD that could go on sale before Christmas and, hopefully, go much wider via social media, YouTube etc.

The Audlem Music Festival team jumped at the idea and since mid-November, they have been filming groups and individuals, all singing the well-known song 'Amazing Grace'.

The words and music have been distributed this week on AudlemOnline and its seems as if virtually every community group in the village has come forward to sing: the local W.I., the uniformed groups including the fire service, the children's groups such as the cubs, brownies, scouts and guides, local folk musicians, teenagers, drinkers in the pubs, the bell ringers, coxswains, walkers, the school, church congregations, popular rock musicians as well as local businesses and more.

There's even been a contribution from an ex-Audlem resident recently moved to USA who had a film clip sent back from the States.

The effort has brought all ages together culminating tomorrow in a mass singing on the church mound on Saturday 29th November at 12.30pm. There will even be a drone camera in action to get aerial shots. The more singers there are, even if you have already been in one of the groups singing, the better all will look in the video.

Editing will then be a massive task as the DVD is scheduled for release on 10th December. And it's not just the finished main item that will be available, the out-takes are being edited too and should prove popular. – and amusing!

Printing of the DVD cover is being undertaken free by Audlem Printers. Pressing of the disc is being done at minimal cost by Downstream.Co

As well as local shops offering the DVD, it will be on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc as all involved hope it will go viral!

With producer Ralph Warburton encouraging all involved, filming and editing is by John Gunstone while sax-player Alisdair McKenzie has laid aside his normal instrument and has acted as Audlem's very own Gareth Malone, making sure each vocal contribution is spot on with its timing – he is also producing the out-takes film.

It's been very hard work for the team but great fun for everyone involved – and all for such an important cause.

Audlem is well-known for its community spirit – a decade ago, when Defra ran a nationwide competition to find the most community spirited village, Audlem was the outright winner for the whole of England.

In the past month, the village is showing that its community spirit is still alive and well. All are keeping their fingers crossed that the money will be raised successfully and that Berni's treatment will be successful.


This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.

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