Bredon was very proud to be asked to help launch a new fundraising initiative called AgriAid to raise awareness of mental health in farming in collaboration with The Farming Community Network, a charity providing support to farmers, farming families and people in rural communities. With Performing Arts on the rise at Bredon, the request was to bring the school together to record a version of the Friends TV theme tune with new lyrics highlighting the range of challenges facing farmers in modern times. We had some fun at whole-school assemblies, singing together as a school and gaining confidence and volume with each rehearsal.
In April, the whole school gathered in the Wainwright Barn to record vocals (which includes a perfectly timed sheep bleat) with a sound engineer for the digital version of the song, and it was with real excitement that 27 pupils took to the front of the Farmers’ Weekly stage at Cereals Festival at Diddly Squat Farm for a live performance along with farmers and agricultural social media personalities. For some of our students, it was their first time performing on a stage, and it was reassuring to note that some of the adults were nervous too, so there was a great shared sense of courage.
The programme began with three short but powerful talks to highlight the purpose of AgriAid, and then it was time to sing. There was a large crowd in the marquee, including a few familiar faces from Clarkson’s Farm, and a number of professional cameras to face, but this didn’t put the Bredon choir off their stride and they sang with gusto. One student even filled the instrumental section with some fabulous air guitar, which went down well with the audience.
The organisers were thrilled to have been supported by potential next generation members of the farming community; we were swamped with well-wishers afterwards, and clips of the performance have been shared far and wide online, including in the highlights reel of Cereals Festival, so the intended impact was had!
We loved the workshops and talks that had been arranged for us at John Deere, UniMog and Syngenta Seeds; Level 2 and 3 Agriculture students asked plenty of relevant questions, and everyone enjoyed the incredible range of merchandise on offer around the enormous site- one pupil got back on the minibus wearing all nine of his newly-acquired hats!
It was an incredible experience to be at such a prominent event which is not open to the public, and be welcomed so warmly. The ambition behind the song was incredibly important, and our students were superb ambassadors for Bredon School. We’ll be there for you….!
To watch the full video of the Bredon choir, follow the link below.
![Two young women sit in the cab of a green tractor, smiling at the camera with a blue sky seen through the sunroof…]](https://www.bredonschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IMG_1242-225x300.jpg)
