Songs of hope and love...
IT was a love of music that took them to Manchester Arena on May 22 last year.
And that same love has helped them through the dark days, weeks and months that followed the terrible attack that engulfed them.
Seeking solidarity in the wake of the bombing, mums, dads and children there that night formed the Manchester Survivors Choir.
Since then, it’s been both a form of catharsis and a place of refuge.
Every fortnight the choir, some of whom were badly injured in the blast which claimed 22 lives, come together at Sacred Trinity Church in Salford to share their experiences or simply lose themselves in singing.
Tomorrow, on the anniversary of the atrocity, their defiant voices will sing out when they take part in Manchester Together - One Voice memorial concert in Albert Square.
Getting caught up in a terrorist attack with your children must be every parents’ worst nightmare. Cath Hill had to endure it twice.
The social worker, from Lancaster, was at the Ariana Grande concert with her son Jake, then 10. Although they weren’t injured the experience left them both badly shaken.
So when in August last year the family went on holiday to the small Spanish coastal resort of Cambrils, they hoped it would be a chance to briefly put the trauma of May 22 behind them.
Incredibly, they found themselves on the fringe of another deadly terrorist plot. On August 17, 22-year-old Younes Abouyaaqoub drove a van into pedestrians on La Rambla in Barcelona, killing 13 people and injuring at least 130 others. Abouyaaqoub fled the scene on foot, killing another person as he stole a car to make his escape.
Nine hours after the attack, five men thought to be part of the same terrorist cell drove into pedestrians in Cambrils, 70 miles away, killing one woman and injuring six others. All five attackers were shot and killed by police.
Cath, who grew up in Poynton, near Stockport, said: “We had heard an attack had happened in Barcelona, but didn’t know it was also in Cambrils.
“There were armed guards outside. It was just awful. I have never been more scared. I couldn’t believe we were so close to it.”
Alongside 18-year-old Carys Crow, from Leeds, Cath was the driving force behind the formation of the choir. She says it’s been both an escape and a vital source of support.
Cath said: “Starting up the choir was about me being able to offer some help - it was really important to feel like I was doing something positive.
“The singing brings us all together, it gives us an opportunity to talk to people who really understand.
“It also give us a focus and an escape. I have never sang before, so it means for the hour that we’re rehearsing, I have to really focus on it and I’m not thinking about anything else.”
The Burke family, from Ashtonunder-Lyne, were among the 350 people in the foyer of the Manchester Arena when the explosion happened.
Catherine Burke, aged 11, was just five metres away from the bomber, with her mum Ann,, 47, and dad
Darah, 48. All three suffered horrific shrapnel injuries. Catherine, who was hospitalised for two weeks, also broke her leg and lost the hearing in her right ear. But through the painful months that followed, the choir has been an invaluable source of support and comfort.
Ann said: “It’s about coming together. We were hurt and suffered psychologically but we do not stand around and talk about how we feel or how we are dealing with the emotions we are having at that moment. It is just about knowing we have all been through it.”
Hoping to beat the crowds, 13-yearold Yasmine Lee left the Arena before Ariana Grande had finished her encore. As she crossed the foyer with her friend, the force of the explosion blew her off her feet. Unaware she had been injured, Yasmine, from Bramhall in Stockport, ran to her pal’s mum’s car.
It was only then the Bramhall High School pupil realised her leg had been burnt in the explosion. She was rushed to hospital and was one of the first victims to arrive at A&E at Stepping Hill.
Yasmine has recovered from her injuries and has drawn strength from the choir and the company of others who went through the same experience.
She said: “We’ve all got each other. If you’re having a bad day you can go to them and they don’t think you’re being stupid. They totally understand what you are saying and help you to cope.”
For Fiona Turner and her daughter, Ava, the choir has been a vital source of support following the bomb. Fiona, 43, and Ava, 11, from Wigan, were in the main arena when the bomb went off.
They were uninjured but it had a huge psychological effect. Fiona said: “It still hurts.
“There have been difficult days but we come together it all about the positives. Singing together is really cathartic. It just feels like a release.
“Music brought us together so it is fitting that it has brought us together here - especially the young people, because they have got so much in common.”