Ashley Banjo and Sara Cox will attempt to break a world record with an NHS singalong on ITV.
NHS Choir, staff and music stars will take part in a hopefully record breaking live singalong to celebrate the NHS on its 70th Birthday
The Big NHS Singalong Live will air on ITV tonight, Wednesday, July 4 at 9PM.
The 90-minute special will follow the mammoth task of assembling a choir mixing unsung NHS heroes from all over the country with singers from the pop world to try to smash the world record for the biggest live singalong ever to be broadcast with a landmark performance of iconic Beatles classic With a Little Help from My Friends, which will be shown live on ITV.
Presented by Ashley Banjo and Sara Cox, the 90 minute spectacular will follow NHS Choirmasters Doctor Katie Rogerson and NHS worker Joe Blunden, capturing all the frantic efforts in the build up to the big singalong and the live action.
The show will hear exceptional stories from right across the NHS, including why some of the popstars joining the choir owe a debt to the NHS. It will meet extraordinary patients and NHS staff and deliver plenty of surprises and feelgood moments from up and down the country’s hospitals as they aim to recruit thousands of voices to swell the ranks of the Big NHS Singalong choir.
Sara and Ashley will be with the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir and popstars, many of whom have a particular and personal reason to pay tribute to the NHS, singing live from Abbey Road Studios, where With a Little Help From My Friends was originally recorded.
And their number will be swelled to – hopefully – record breaking levels by other NHS choirs and staff joining the broadcast in hospitals and locations right across the country, including a group coming live from the Coronation Street cobbles.
Also filmed at Abbey Road Studios, The Big NHS Singalong will capture the excitement as the Choir and NHS staff, along with a host of stars, record the song for a single in aid of NHS charities. This latest mission into the charts follows the NHS Choir’s 2015 hit single ‘A Bridge Over You’, which beat Justin Bieber to that year’s UK Christmas number one spot.
Katie Rogerson said: “We wanted to do something which the public could really get behind. We don’t have long to pull this off and we will be scouring the NHS for singers and musicians and hopefully we’ll persuade a few famous faces to join us.”
Joe added: “We are determined to both smash that live singalong record and get to number one!”
Sara said: “It is so exciting to be part of this challenge to break a world record and celebrate the amazing work of the NHS. We’ll be travelling the length and breadth of the UK recruiting people to join in to make sure we smash that record and show everyone working in our NHS how much we appreciate them.”
Ashley said: “We want to recognise and celebrate the hardworking and dedicated staff who keep the NHS going everyday and highlight the human kindness at the heart of the incredible care and treatment they make available to every single one of us.”
The charity single will be released following the live event and all proceeds will go to the NHS Charities Together, a group of more than 100 NHS charities that have come together to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the NHS and raise awareness of the work that NHS charities do to support the NHS.
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