The tragic events at the Manchester Arena on 22 May shocked us all. Live Music Now stands with the people of Manchester. We will continue to provide regular interactive music concerts at community venues, schools, care homes and hospitals around this great city.
LMN’s NW Project Manager Amy Ward lives in Manchester, and has written her own personal response to the incident. We are proud to share this with you.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
I just wanted to share some thoughts on the last few days events. I am prouder than ever to call Manchester my home, though what happened has left us all in shock and it’s hard to come to terms with this happening so close in a place where I, like many others, went to see their first ever concert with my parents and have since made many happy memories.
It has shown some examples of a community pulling together in the face of an incomprehensible tragedy, and this is something that has brought me comfort to focus on which I wanted to share:
- A woman leading 50 lost children to safety during the evacuation and keeping them safe at a local hotel until they could be reunited with family
- Taxi drivers across the city offering free lifts all night
- Food being delivered to NHS staff at hospitals across the region treating victims, people taking cups of tea and sandwiches out to the police manning the cordon line
- So many people queuing up to donate blood that centres had to turn them away
- 31,000 people donating over £750,000 for victims and their families in under 24 hours
- Homeless people who were sleeping rough in the streets near the arena running towards the scene and helping those who were injured
- Students trapped inside the police cordon at Chetham’s playing music together:
There is an overwhelming message that Manchester is open for business as usual, a city known for its music using music and poetry to come together. Tony Walsh says it better than I ever could:
Tonight I will be heading into town as usual for a Streetwise Opera workshop and there’s no better way I can think of spending my evening than singing with my friends.
Amy Ward is LMN’s Project Manager for the North West branch of Live Music Now.
