{"id":1976003,"date":"2026-06-06T06:30:39","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T03:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1976003"},"modified":"2026-06-06T06:30:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T03:30:39","slug":"young-people-write-song-for-leigh-with-lottery-winners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1976003","title":{"rendered":"Young people write ‘Song for Leigh’ with Lottery Winners"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/3ee8\/live\/946b1290-5da8-11f1-baa9-1f66f2ed2a5f.png”]<\/p>\n

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\"DeaconDeacon Communications<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The group co-wrote the song about their hometown with The Lottery Winners <\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Young people in a Greater Manchester town have teamed up with chart-topping indie pop band the Lottery Winners to record to spread “joy and pride” about their hometown.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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‘Song for Leigh’ was premiered before thousands of people at the bands homecoming show at Leigh Sports Village last Saturday. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Kerrick Mills, who was one of the performers who sang on the track, told BBC Radio Manchester watching the song played out in front of the crowd was “phenomenal”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Lottery Winners’ frontman Thom Rylance said working class communities were “overflowing with brilliant songwriters, artists and dreamers, they just don’t always get the same opportunities or encouragement.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"DeaconDeacon Communications<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The group of youngsters from Leigh responded to a call out for people to take part in songwriting workshops <\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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He said working with the Lottery Winners alongside other people his age was “surreal”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“I haven’t been in a proper recording studio before seeing how everything works behind the scenes, and making a full song was just a once in a lifetime opportunity for me.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Rylance said the band “know what it feels like to grow up thinking those worlds aren’t built for people like us”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“So if we can help open a few doors, share what we’ve learned, or make someone believe they belong, then that matters just as much as any chart position ever will.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The song features pupils from Bedford High School, Lowton High School and the Spirix Youth Theatre, which is based in Wigan and Leigh.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Their involvement began as part of a project to get young people from Leigh involved in songwriting session to share their experience and hopes the future of their town.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"IantheWarlowIantheWarlow<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The Lottery Winners played ‘Song for Leigh’ to a home crowd of thousands <\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Lyrics were written by the group, who were supported to rehearse and record by The Lottery Winners. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A ‘Song for Leigh’ music video has also been released to celebrate young people in Leigh involved in music, dance and the visual arts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It has been led by Amy Hodgson, a producer from local dance collective Spirix, and funded by Down to Earth and Arts Council England.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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All the proceeds from the song will go to local arts and education charity the Gill David Trust.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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There are about 500 creative businesses in Wigan but only 1.5% of local jobs are in the creative sector, below the 4% Greater Manchester average, according to a study looking at creative industries in the borough by consultants WeMadeThat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Marti Boardman, one of the young performers, said: “I don’t think there are enough opportunities for young artists like us to help us carry on in the industry and help us with our dreams, and I think more needs to be done about it.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“The experience was amazing. To be working with some big names in the music industry is really a once in a lifetime opportunity and I’ve learnt so many things along the way that I can then use to help myself progress in the industry.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Listen to the best of <\/i>BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds<\/i> and follow BBC Manchester on <\/i>Facebook<\/i>, <\/i>X<\/i>, and <\/i>Instagram<\/i>. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cx21vm14y3wo”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/3ee8\/live\/946b1290-5da8-11f1-baa9-1f66f2ed2a5f.png”] Deacon Communications The group co-wrote the song about their hometown with The Lottery Winners Young people in a Greater Manchester town have teamed up with chart-topping indie pop band the Lottery Winners to record to spread “joy and pride” about their hometown. ‘Song for Leigh’ was premiered before thousands of people at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35,226],"class_list":["post-1976003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-bbc-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1976003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1976003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1976003\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1976003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1976003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1976003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}