Private School News

WORLD CUP ANTHEM TO SCORE FOR HEROES

To coincide with England’s bid for World Cup glory, a Lancashire junior school teacher has penned a personal musical tribute to England’s football heroes, which he hopes will score big for Britain’s injured armed forces’ heroes returning from Afghanistan.

With the help of pupils at Rossall School in Fleetwood, Lancashire, sports teacher and aspiring musician, Lawrence Condon has released a World Cup song, with the title: ‘England, My England’, in a bid to highlight the sacrifices being made by the nation’s soldiers abroad and to raise valuable funds for the ‘Help for Heroes’ charity.

Lawrence’s pupils were the inspiration for the song and urged him to write one for the last World Cup. Four years on and just in time for South Africa 2010, ‘England my England’ has been created in a collaboration with British folk, rock band ‘Steeleye Span’ guitarist, Ken Nicol, who produced the song from its raw acoustic version, adding orchestra, drums and chorus. He hopes the song will become an anthem and find its way onto the football terraces of South Africa, but if not, he’ll be more than happy if the public buys the song and it generates cash for Britain’s injured heroes, returning from conflict in Afghanistan.

To help promote the single, a DVD featuring Lawrence and his pupils has been produced by children at Rossall, one of the North West’s oldest independent schools, with some help from the School’s IT department. The backing track features melodies from the early 1960’s hit ‘Telstar’, giving it its infectious chorus that would make an excellent football chant during the current World Cup. And, the children at the school provide a seventy-strong choral backing when the song is played live for visitors to the 166-year-old campus.

Commenting on the launch, Lawrence Condon said: “The children cajoled me into doing something for the World Cup, even though I’m not a professional musician. The result might not be likely to hit the heights of Frank Skinner’s ‘Three Lions’, but if there’s a chance that the public like it and want to support our lads in South Africa then they’ll also be making a valuable contribution to the lives of our servicemen and women in Afghanistan, so hopefully we score either way.”

DVD’s will be on sale at Rossall School from this week with all proceeds from the strictly not for profit song going straight to Help for Heroes.

Photo: Lawrence Condon with some of Rossall School Juniors