Lancashire wide primary school 'Last Choir Singing' competition held for the first time since pandemic

The Last Choir Singing Competition, featuring hundreds of Lanashire’s best young singers, had it’s 2022 Grand Finale at the end of last month.

The finale was held at King Georges Hall, Blackburn on Friday June 24, featuring ten finalist schools from across the county, including Chorley, Goosnargh and Blackpool.

Since starting in 2015, the competition has grown each year with up to 40 schools entering in 2019, but due to COVID, this is the first time the competition has taken place for two years.

In the final, each choir sang a set song followed by a song of their choice, which were judged by three independent judges; all of which are experts in the music industry.

This year, Norbreck Primary Academy from Thornton Cleveleys took the County Final Winners trophy home, and will receive the grand prize of day in a professional recording studio, where they will be able to record their winning songs.

The first runners up were Coppull Parish Church School in Chorley, and second runner up were Anchorsholme Academy in Thornton-Cleveleys, who will receive cash prizes of £250 and £150 respectively.

Meanwhile St Francis Catholic Primary School in Goosnargh won Best Newcomer and Endenfield C of E Primary School in Ramsbottom won the Angela Carson Award.

Local businessman George Critchley, who founded The Last Choir Singing, said: “It was so wonderful to see the competition back following COVID. It was great to get back to the heats in March and the Grand Finale was just magnificent. We are already excited to start planning the 2023 competition. All the schools who have taken part this year have been fantastic. The choirs have given it their all and should all be so very proud of themselves”.

A total of 16 schools entered the competition, which was headline sponsored by David Wilson Homes.

From each of the three heats, three schools were chosen to go to the final competition, as well as a wildcard school to round the entries up to 10.

The other 10 finalist schools were Park Primary School, Colne; St Chad's RC Primary School, Chorley; Lord Street Primary School, Colne; St Andrew’s C of E Primary School, Oswaldtwistle; and St Anne's RC Primary School, Ormskirk.

Jayne Raven, Project Co-Ordinator at The Last Choir Singing Competition, said: “We are very grateful to David Wilson Homes for its support.

“The plan was to have the company as the headline sponsor in 2020 but sadly the competition could not proceed due to COVID, so it was great to have them be the main sponsor of this year’s County Final Winners trophy.”

Rob Holbrook, Managing Director of David Wilson Homes North West, added: “We are so pleased that The Last Choir Singing Competition has been able to proceed this year. It is a delightful competition that showcases the incredibly talented children of Lancashire … we are more than happy to support such a marvellous event in the county.”

The 2023 Last Choir Singing competition will be open for entries in September 2022.

If you would like to know more about the Last Choir Singing, have a look at the website or follow the Facebook page.