Sheffield children and world's oldest club help to create new Euro 2024 anthem
A NEW Euro 2024 anthem created by Sheffield youngsters and a city football club has now been released as a limited edition vinyl release. Around The World has been streamed and downloaded hundreds of times since its release by the arts charity Stand & Be Counted in collaboration with Sheffield FC.
The song, which is free to stream, was also performed live by children in the charity’s Youth Theatre of Sanctuary, at the Fan City fan zone on Devonshire Green, Sheffield city centre.
Stand & Be Counted is the UK’s first theatre company of sanctuary, working with refugees, new migrants and asylum seekers.
John Tomlinson, joint CEO, said: “We are incredibly proud of the children in our youth theatre for standing up for sanctuary, and performing the song they created in front of an appreciative crowd of football fans.
“Around The World is all about celebrating Sheffield as both the home of football and the city of sanctuary. I’d like to say a huge thanks to everyone who has downloaded the song so far.
“As England play the quarter final tomorrow, we’ve also released the song in a special collector’s edition on vinyl.”
England will play Switzerland in Düsseldorf hoping to make the semi-finals where they would face either Turkey or Netherlands on Wednesday evening.
Gareth Southgate’s team have so far had a series of underwhelming performances.
Switzerland, by contrast, have been in excellent form and beat Euro 2020 champions Italy in the previous round.
Around The World was released on June 14, to coincide with the start of the Euro 2024 tournament in Germany and Refugee Week.
It is the latest exciting project from the youth theatre, which hoped it would reach number one in the charts.
The group meets every Saturday in Sheffield to work on a huge variety of creative ideas, from designing video games to shadow puppet shows.
Musician Ed Waring helped the group to record their song alongside a full creative team.
Then the team united with Sheffield FC to film their video, which features the grounds, kit and fans of the club founded in 1857.
And their performance at Fan City was part of the lineup for Sheffield’s vibrant Migration Matters Festival, which is part of Refugee Week.
While its main aim is to celebrate the positive impact of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, it launched a climate strand last year which was expanded for 2024.
Around The World is free to download from the usual music streaming services. To buy the limited edition vinyl version, which costs £25 including a donation to support SBC’s work with young people, contact [email protected]