SafeCall: The choir helping reunite missing people with their worried families
KWhen Peter Boxell dreamed he was singing a song to his son Lee, who had been missing for 25 years, he never thought it would get him through to the final. Britain’s Got Talent.
In 2013 the father casually mentioned the dream to someone from the charity Missing People and the next day arrangements were made for him to visit a recording studio and work with a producer ahead of a Christmas event at St Martin-in-the-Fields church in London.
he said Independent: “I didn’t know what to say, because he had been through so much and I had always wanted to see the inside of a recording studio. So I said, ‘Yes, I’ll go,’ thinking that when they heard me singing, they would probably think of an excuse for me not to sing it at the event.”
But that December, Mr. Boxell performed the song. Where is Lee? to a congregation in the church. “I didn’t need a microphone or PA system because my voice was so loud,” he said.
“I filled the church with my voice and it felt like I was singing to my son. It’s a really weird feeling. It was really comforting and uplifting and I actually got a standing ovation.”
As well as the charity Missing People, Independent It aims to raise £165,000 to launch SafeCall, a free new service that will help the 70,000 children reported missing each year find support and safety no matter what.
After hearing Mr Boxell’s experience, music producer James Hawkins and Clare Cook from the charity decided to set up the Missing People’s Choir for people who had lost loved ones. The group aims to raise awareness about this problem that devastates many families, while also helping to ease the burden they face.
For over a decade, the 20-plus-piece band has performed with The Vamps at London’s O2 Arena and reached the final. Britain’s Got Talent In 2017.
Two missing persons, who saw their faces announced during the show and returned home, were reunited with their families on television.
donate Here or text SAFE to 70577 to donate £10 to Missing People, enough for one child to get help.
Mr Boxell, whose son Lee went missing in 1988, said: “It’s a huge loss when a child goes missing. My son has been missing since he was 15. He must be in his fifties now. “It’s been very difficult for me but I look forward to getting together every month and it helps me a lot.
“We rehearse and meet together. It gives me something to take my mind off the loss.
“We’re all good friends and we all help each other and support each other and it’s really like a little community.”
For Mr Boxell, one of his favorite performances was at the Cornbury Music Festival in Oxfordshire. He said: “I’ll never forget it. There were about 40 of us and we were all standing on a huge stage. When we walked in to perform, the whole area was filled with thousands of people, mostly families, waving and cheering.”
Another member of the choir, Bek Stratfield, joined the choir after his 17-year-old son Finn went missing in Cornwall in 2017. “It’s a place no one wants to be, of course, but we come together and there is empathy and compassion, both in the choir and those who support the choir,” he said.
“Sometimes if I think I’m going to get a little nervous, I think about why I’m doing this and I’m doing it for my son Finn. To be honest, that’s all I’m really thinking about, trying to get the words right.”
The choir aims to meet and perform or rehearse at least once a month, with a repertoire that includes original songs written for the group as well as songs with lyrics reflecting their own experiences.
Mr Boxell said: “It helps us come together and we get a degree of comfort from that. It’s just being in the same room, singing together, we don’t have to talk to each other… We get to sing and it’s very uplifting for everyone to do that.”
Please donate now To the Independent and Missing Persons’ Safe Call campaign, which aims to raise £165,000 to create a free, nationwide service to help vulnerable children find safety and support.
If you or a loved one is lost, text or call the charity Missing People on 116 000 for advice, support and options. It’s free, confidential and non-judgmental. Or visit www.missingpeople.org.uk/get-help
