The ongoing conflicts in Ukraine continue to impact lives within our school and the surrounding community. On Thursday 9th June, Ackworth School hosted “Concert for Ukraine” which featured choirs from the local primary schools, as well as our own. Final numbers of attendees exceeded 300 from the school and the community who came to show their support.
We heard from our Head of Music, Oliver McCarthy-Bell, who joined Ackworth School back in September 2020, coming into his new role as a music teacher during the pandemic.
“I hadn’t worked with the Primary Schools before, so this was a perfect way to start collaborating with them and begin a partnership.” The schools prepared two of their own songs, which included classics such as ‘Stand by Me’ and ‘Over the Rainbow’.
“Our ‘All Schools’ song was one which I had chosen from my time at school. At the time, we were celebrating 40 years of twinning our primary school and a primary school in Germany. It was a song we performed during a project for World War II community ties where both choirs came together to sing ‘No Wars Will Stop Us Singing’. I just knew this would be the perfect song for us all to sing and finish the concert off.”
“The atmosphere was, its sounds cheesy….. ELECTRIC!”
The evening was emotional, absorbing, and reminded us all how important community spirit is! Money raised reached over £1,500 with all proceeds will be donated to charity to support Ukraine.
We would like to give thanks to Oliver McCarthy-Bell, Alison Wise, Rae Strong, Eleanor Younger, Ackworth Coram House and Ackworth School choirs for your hard work and dedication.
Additionally, thank you Ackworth Howard C of E, Mill Dam School Ackworth, Outwood Primary Academy Bell Lane, and their teachers Kate Wright, Ann Cleworth, and Holly Thompson, for making the effort to join us for the special concert.
Finally, a special thanks to Tadei and Mykhailo for their words at the beginning of the evening.