Girl, 10, to sing in BBC Children in Need choir

A 10-year-old girl will sing live as part of the BBC Children in Need choir for this year's appeal show.

Gracie from Loughton, Essex, has been supported by child bereavement group Echo Connect, following the death of her father Simon from cancer when she was aged seven.

The group, which is funded by the BBC charity, meets at St Clare Hospice in Harlow and gives one-to-one and group counselling to people who have lost someone they love.

"I know Daddy will be watching me. I'll be singing my loudest," Gracie said.

When Gracie was four, her father was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in his thymus gland.

He was originally given eight months to live, but survived three years.

The 10-year-old said: "I didn't know anyone else who was in the same position as me before I went to the daddy talky group [Echo Connect].

"I didn't have anyone to talk to. My mummy, sisters, nanny and grandad were always so sad, but I felt I couldn't talk in front of them about me being sad too.

"Echo Connect has helped me, and my mummy says it's helped her too."

Gracie's mother Ellie agreed: "I think it's just the fact that she's with people who've lost someone as well. She doesn't feel alone."

The Echo Connect project works with children, young people and families who have experienced bereavement in west Essex and east Hertfordshire. 

Amanda Orange, a child and family support worker at the project, said the service ran activities including games and crafts, and provided an opportunity for conversations around death and bereavement.

"The children love being here and the BBC Children in Need funding is invaluable," she said.

"The work we do is subtle - we're trying to normalise what's going on for the children in the language we use.

"It's actually OK to use the word 'death' even though there's still a taboo. People skirt around it, but it's OK to put it on the table and talk about it.

"It's much healthier for the children, because there's so much fear if it isn't spoken about."

BBC Children in Need funds 107 projects across the East of England to the value of £6.6m. The funds help more than 22,000 children and young people who face challenging lives.

Gracie is one of 19 children chosen to sing in this year's Children in Need choir and will perform Never Forget by Take That.

You can watch the performance live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 19:00 GMT on Friday, 15 November.

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