Your Dispossessed cash helps choir to make its name with Coldplay gig
They have battled addiction, isolation, and nights sleeping on the streets.
But now a group of homeless singers has created an album and video and will open gigs for one of the world's biggest bands — thanks to the Evening Standard.
Choir With No Name, based in King's Cross, is made up of 36 singers aged between 24 and 62. Most have slept rough and now live in shelters.
The group was given a £4,650 grant from the Standard's Dispossessed Fund, and this month will support Coldplay at concerts in Liverpool and Newcastle. Their 40-minute set will include a cover of Coldplay song Politic, as well as compositions of their own.
Founder Marie Benton said of the invitation: "Everyone's excited. It will be the biggest audience we've performed to and it will help us up our game. It's the first time we've been away for more than one night touring. It will give us time to bond." The choir recently finished its debut album thanks to the generosity of Standard readers.
Ms Benton said: "The money from the Dispossessed Fund has allowed us to do post-production and paid for artwork on its cover which is phenomenal." It features tracks such as Radiohead's Street Spirit, Fairytale Of New York by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, and Total Eclipse Of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler. Ms Benton founded the group in 2008 and it has been so successful, similar ones will be set up in other cities, starting with Birmingham next year.
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin said he was excited about the choir's appearances at the concerts, organised by homeless charity Crisis. "There's so many people who are good at music but don't have the chance to show it," he added. "The new Mozart might be hidden in Africa somewhere with no piano to play on."
Crisis chief executive Leslie Morphy said: "Crisis Hidden Gigs with Coldplay will raise awareness of the thousands of hidden homeless people who are all too often forgotten, especially at Christmas."
The Liverpool concert is on December 19 and the Newcastle one the day after. The Dispossessed Fund has raised more than £4.8 million for charities and organisations that help Londoners climb out of poverty.
