Musicians from the band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines based at HMS Collingwood spread festive cheer to hundreds of children when they toured local schools recently.
Six musicians from the Band, fresh from performing in front of Her Majesty at the Commissioning of the new Queen Elizabeth carrier in Portsmouth, took a break from their busy schedule to entertain local children with fun and festive music.
At Peel Common Junior School, Head teacher Andy Clarke welcomed Sergeant (Sgt) Matt Michell and his section of the band to perform ahead of the school’s Christmas Fayre.
They began with the Wallace and Gromit theme which brought smiles to the children’s faces as they recognised the tune and then followed this with a medley from ‘Frozen’ to which the children sang along heartily.
After introducing the band members and the instruments they played, Sgt Michell then asked some of the children to accompany the band on percussion instruments while the rest of the children ‘volunteered’ three teachers to compete to take on the role of conductor.
Judged by the level of the resulting cheers, Miss Chloe Sykes won and was presented with a Band CD by Sgt Michell.
After the concert, Head teacher Andy Clarke led the children’s grateful applause and said afterwards, “We would also like to pass on our thanks to the Royal Marines Band for taking the time to come and play for us. It was a truly lovely experience for the children and the staff.”
As well as being world class performers, Royal Marines Musicians are also trained to support military and humanitarian operations across the globe.
During operations, in addition to providing the moral component by playing music to the deployed forces, they also work as casualty handlers, ambulance drivers, radio operators and provide convoy protection thus giving vital support to troops both on the ground and at sea.
