Toddlers to take to the Derry streets for Mayor's 24 hour Busk for Homelessness

Ruth McPhillips for the Mayor’s 24hour Busk for Homelessness, which begins on Saturday, March 17 at 6pm.

Ruth McPhillips will also have two other acts performing in the event with the Voices of the Foyle choir and The RingaBellas also taking part.

Ruth said: “Music and Me is for babies and toddlers, it’s a music and movement sensory session. Our classes are based in Shantallow Community Centre, for the most part, and one day the Mayor was down hosting an event for children and families. She was very gracious and took photos with the babies and she’s such a good supporter so we couldn’t not!

"Voices of the Foyle is a contemporary choir, based in the city, which has been running, officially, since 2015. We perform for leisure – we’re not a competitive choir – and a lot of people would say they perform for therapy. It’s a lovely group of people, we just get together once a week and really enjoy singing. Our performance for the Mayor’s busk is going to be an eclectic mix of folk-fusion. Because it’s St Patrick’s Day, we thought we would have a few Irish favourites with a fusion twist.

"The RingaBellas are a swing trio but we’ll be going out as swing dro this time to let one of our sick members rest. It’s swing music from the 40s, 50s and 60s and it’s a lovely wee gig to do because the music’s so uplifting and everyone loves a wee dance. I hope to see a few jives and maybe even the slosh!

"The wee toddlers will come up then to shake their sillies out and say ‘hello’ to all their friends. They’ve really been practicing so hard and they can’t wait to play. They range from 18 months to three years and this will be their first time doing anything in public. I’m sure the children will be none the wiser but what sold it for the parents is the charity for the Mayor.

"We all have either direct experience or a family member who is struggling with poor housing or can’t get settled in the right area for their children so that’s what sold it for our younger performers. The families just can’t wait to get involved and feel a bit famous that the Mayor requested them specifically!

"I would love to give a huge thanks to the Mayor, Sandra Duffy. She’s such a keen supporter for everything that’s local based. She’s even gone as far as setting up some social media pages called ‘Shop Local Derry’. She just does it herself and promotes local businesses for the sake of promotion. That’s really key, especially for small businesses that people might not even know exist, to have that on such a public platform is such a gracious thing to do. She’s never behind the door in sharing her appreciation and it’s really valued. When she gives you a few words of encouragement, she really takes time out of her day to do that and that’s really lovely. It gives you a wee boost so we’re more than happy to be performing.”

The choir is performing at 1:15pm, The RingaBellas at 1.45pm and 2pm for the toddlers on Saturday, March 18 in the Guildhall Square.