It’s the home of football – and now Sheffield could be the birthplace of a new number-one hit for Euro 2024.
Stand and Be Counted Theatre’s Youth Theatre of Sanctuary group has released a new hit football song in collaboration with Sheffield FC to celebrate Refugee Week and Euro 2024.
The song, ‘Around the World,’ is now available all major platforms alongside a music video filmed at Sheffield FC’s Home of Football stadium in Dronfield. Musician Ed Waring has helped the group record their song alongside a full creative team.
Stand & Be Counted is the UK’s first theatre company of sanctuary. It works with refugees, new migrants, and asylum seekers – anyone, of any age, who is seeking sanctuary. Its youth theatre group meets every Saturday in Sheffield to work on creative projects, from making video games to shadow puppet shows.
“The children in our group live for football,” said John Tomlinson, joint CEO of Stand & Be Counted. “They always play the game before our Saturday sessions together, and as a team, we want to focus on topics they love.”
“Euro 2024 coincides with Refugee Week, so it felt like there was no better time to do this. We’d absolutely love for ‘Around the World’ to go to number one. But also, it’s about celebrating Sheffield – which was the first City of Sanctuary – as a new home for these children and their creativity.”
“The children in our group live for football.”
The Youth Theatre of Sanctuary will be performing their song live as part of the Migration Matters Festival in Sheffield. They will also take to the stage of the 4,000-capacity Fan City village on Devonshire Green, on Saturday, 22 June, at 1pm.
The Migration Matters Festival runs for nine days from Friday, 14 June, 2024, with more than 70 cultural events taking place.
Download the Around the World song here or from your usual music streaming service.
