Schoolchildren to celebrate world speed record hero

Over 400 local schoolchildren from Knowsley and Sefton are set to come together to perform an unforgettable celebration of music, song and dance.

Sefton & Knowsley Youth (SKY) Music Hub is hosting a special musical event on Friday 16 March to celebrate Sir Henry Segrave’s world land-speed record, which took place in Southport.

In March 1926, racing driver Sir Henry captured the land-speed record on Ainsdale beach in Southport. In his Sunbeam Tiger car, Sir Henry reached a speed of more than 152 mph – seizing the world land-speed record from his rival.

The former fighter pilot was the first person to hold both a land speed and water-speed record simultaneously, and was the first person to travel at 200 mph in a land vehicle.

His extraordinary achievements are being celebrated through the medium of song, dance and art, as 400 schoolchildren from eight local schools join together to perform ‘A Musical Celebration’.

Taking place on 16 March at The Auditorium at Echo Arena Liverpool, children will perform a number of songs inspired by speed, movement and different rhythms.

The event will feature instrumental music, original songs, dance performances and the premier massed performance of ‘Speed’ by Stuart Overington.

In 2016, the SKY Music Hub vocal team began to lead the project inspired by the 90th anniversary of Sir Henry’s land-speed record. Over the past two years the SKY Music Hub vocal team has been working with schools across the region, with the project coming to an exciting finale on March 16.

Participating schools include Westvale Primary (Kirkby), St Luke’s Catholic Primary School (Prescot), St Aidan’s Catholic Primary School (Huyton), St John’s CE Primary (Waterloo), St Nicholas CE Primary (Blundellsands), Our Lady of Compassion (Formby), Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School (Southport) and Melling Primary School (Melling) and Green Park Primary School (Maghull).

Dancers from the Merseyside Youth Association (MYA) will take centre stage alongside talented instrumentalists, while artwork created by students from Presfield High School & Specialist College will also be presented on the night.

Composer, arranger and musical director Andy Smith has also created a grand finale, which will involve all 400 participants.

Chris Lennie, lead of SKY Music Hub said: “We are all looking forward to this event, which will bring together the young people of Knowsley and Sefton to celebrate their musical achievements. It’s also a fantastic way to celebrate motor racing record breaker Sir Henry Segrave!

“It has been great to work in collaboration with all our partners which has inspired so many children to pick up an instrument, sing, dance and create art.

“The talented group of young people have embraced the theme and absolutely love all the music – their energy will be infectious on the night! Everyone at SKY Music Hub, including our partners are passionate about giving youngsters the chance to be creative and have the opportunity to perform on stage. We can’t wait to showcase the phenomenal talent in our local area.”

Becky Woods, headteacher at St Nicholas CE Primary, who is bringing along 28 children to perform at the event, said the Year 5 class and teaching staff are “are thrilled to be taking part in the performance.”

She added: “The vocal tuition provided by Sky Music Hub has been excellent and the children have thoroughly enjoyed all the rehearsals. Our school has a great tradition of high quality singing and we are always looking out for events which allow our children to perform as it is so good for their confidence and self-discipline.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for the children to perform in a professional venue and we cannot thank the Hub staff enough for all their hard work, skill and enthusiasm.”

Tickets to ‘A Musical Celebration’ are sold out ahead of the event.