Last night, as I was falling deeper and deeper into a YouTube blackhole, I stumbled upon a video I couldn’t get out of my head. It was of The Missing People Choir performing on Britain’s Got Talent. The video took place back in April, so it is very likely you’ve already seen this video and I am simply behind on my pop culture. But, their performance and message touched me so much that I felt the need to share it.
The choir is made up of a group of people from the charity, Missing People. This is an independent charity that searches for missing people and provides support to those who have been left behind. The founders, sisters Mary Asprey OBE and Janet Newman OBE, started the charity after the disappearance of Suzy Lamplugh in 1986. These women dedicated their lives to helping reunite families and were honored with numerous awards including, ‘UK Women of Europe award’ and ‘European Women of Achievement Humanitarian Award.’
The charity does all it can to help search for and locate missing people but the greatest impact they have is in offering a safe space and support to those suffering from the heartbreak of a missing loved one. This is how the Missing People Choir came to be. It is made up of people who has missing loved ones as well as staff and volunteers of the charity. The members have turned to the power of music to help them through these tough times and have been able to lean on others who understand what they are going through.
The talented group decided to audition for Britain’s Got Talent and use the platform to spread awareness and get the faces of the missing people out there in hopes of finding them. They never anticipated that they would end up making it all the way to the finals. Every heart-shattering performance they gave was coupled with the faces of those who have vanished playing behind them. Although they did not win, they did what they came to do – get their message across and spread awareness. If even just one person is found thanks to this then it was well worth it.
You can get involved by donating your money, your talents or your time. Just visit http://www.missingpeople.org.uk/
