Choristers raise £8,434 for Unicef VaccinAid

Choristers raise £8,434, enabling Unicef to provide 10,000 Covid-19 vaccines globally

Truro Cathedral choristers, who all attend Truro School, are celebrating the success of their Unicef VaccinAid Crowdfunder which raised £8,434, nearly 70% more than their original £5,000 target. The sum will enable Unicef to provide over 10,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses.

The fundraiser took place as part of the recent Sing2G7 project, through which the Cornish choristers inspired children across the globe to raise their voices in song to world leaders. Over 27,000 children in 31 countries, from Australia to Alaska, Japan to Mexico, Portugal to Poland, South Africa to Canada and USA signed up to sing ‘Gee Seven’, written specially for the project by Sir Tim Rice and Peter Hobbs. Well over 300 schools across UK took part, from Bristol to Birmingham, Newcastle to Thurrock as well as countless churches and over 20 cathedrals in UK and abroad.

As singers registered, the Sing2G7 organisers and choristers became keenly aware of how vulnerable to Covid many of their fellow young singers around the world were. They immediately decided to give all royalties from their Gee Seven single to VaccinAid via Unicef. In addition, the Sing2G7 ‘Give the World a Shot’, Unicef VaccinAid CrowdFunder to raise £5,000 was launched as the choristers’ practical application of the last lines of ‘Gee Seven’ with their bold challenge:

Gee Seven – let nation speak to nation
Gee Seven – don’t let the others down
Gee Seven – don’t forget the not so fortunate
Gee -Seven – or we’ll run you out of town

Sing2G7’s VaccinAid appeal attracted support from far and wide, including from the original Poldark actor, Robin Ellis and from the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Now the UN Envoy for Education, Mr Brown sent a personal video message of encouragement to the 1,400 children who joined a Sing2G7 Mega Zoom across 14 timezones at the time of the Summit.

‘I can’t quite believe that by singing a song we have enabled 10,000 people to be vaccinated. It’s amazing. Thank you so much to everyone who made a donation,’ said Head Chorister Jacob, 13.

‘I think it’s wonderful that we’ve managed to achieve this. We’ve beaten our target by so much money and those 10,000 vaccines will help protect people’s lives which is really cool.’ Chorister Harris, 9.

‘It’s really exciting to think people thousands of miles away, who couldn’t get vaccines before, will get them now. I feel so proud to have been part of Sing2G7 and to have helped to make this happen,’ Chorister, Trystan, 10.

Sir Tim Rice, Lyricist behind Gee Seven, said: ‘I’m proud to see Truro Cathedral Choristers using their beautiful singing to make a tangible difference in the effort to bring Covid Vaccines to poorer countries as part of UNICEF’s vital VaccinAid appeal.’

Steven Waugh, Interim Executive Director at the UK Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF UK), said: “UNICEF UK is greatly inspired by the dedication and passion of the Truro Cathedral Choristers. Their aim of reaching out and uniting children all over the world with their voices while also supporting VaccinAid is something we are incredibly proud to be a part of.  Thank you, Truro Cathedral Choristers, for choosing to support this campaign which will help provide Covid-19 vaccines, tests and treatments to vulnerable communities around the world; your efforts will help transform the lives of many families and children and ensure equitable access to the vaccine for all”.

Images: Chris Yacoubian