Choir & Rory go for glory
NHS singers release Brits single for charity
AN NHS Choir whose emotional performance rocked the Brit Awards are taking on the charts.
Rag’n’Bone Man and P!nk sang Anywhere Away From Here with The Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Choir to close this week’s ceremony.
Now the song is being released to raise money for the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Charity and NHS Charities Together.
Rag’n’Bone Man – real name Rory Graham – told the Mirror he was “honoured” to sing with the choir as he topped the charts yesterday with second album, Life By Misadventure.
He said: “The NHS staff were the true heroes of the evening.”
The release of the single on Wednesday – the day after the Brits – coincided with International Nurses Day.
The members of the choir, who all rehearse in their spare time, were overjoyed to sing at the awards. Caroline Smith, choir coordinator and a children’s physiotherapist, said: “That moment when we turned around and heard all the key workers getting behind us as we started singing… it doesn’t get any better than that!”
And Zoe Davies, a consultant endocrinologist, added: “There were a few tears before and after we played but the performance itself filled me with joy and hope.”
■ Anywhere Away From Here is out now on iTunes & Amazon.
HONOUR Rag’n’Bone Man Rory
BY
PUPILS in Covid hotspots in the North of England will be asked to keep wearing masks in class next week.
Ministers have dropped requirements for secondary school students to wear face coverings from Monday when restrictions ease further.
But council leaders in Lancashire have told schools and colleges to keep mask rules in place until June 21.
There are mounting concerns over the impact of the highly transmissible Indian variant.
Dr Sakthi Karunanithi, Lancashire County Council’s director of public health, said: “The increase in prevalence of this variant in the North West means we need to take some prudent steps to help reduce its spread.”
Bolton Council told parents it was “asking schools to retain the use of face coverings... until further notice.” Julien Kramer, interim assistant director of education at Bury Council, told parents that progress in curbing Covid could be “undermined by the spread of this more infectious variant”. Children at secondary schools in Selby, North Yorks, are also advised to continue wearing masks.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, backed the move, saying teachers were best-placed to decide on what was best for their schools.
He said: “There is clearly a great deal of concern about the variant which originated in India and the situation is... going to be fluid in the immediate future with regards to face masks.”