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Silent discos 'bring joy' to Southport children

Ryan Dobney & Angela Ferguson
BBC News, Liverpool
BBC / Ryan Dobney Four schoolchildren smile at the camera in a room at their school, with one giving the thumbs up.BBC / Ryan Dobney
Southport-based entertainment firm, Starkidz said they wanted to give back by putting on the free silent discos at schools across the town

A mother and daughter from Southport have told how they hope "to bring joy and happiness back into schools" by putting on free silent discos.

Jan and Ellie Hayes from events firm Starkidz said they wanted to help support the mental health of children in the town in the aftermath of last summer's murders.

Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, were killed as they attended a Taylor Swift-themed dance class and 10 others were seriously injured.

"I just think their lives have been affected in more ways than we know", Ellie said.

BBC / Ryan Dobney Ellie and Jan Hayes smile at the camera. They are both wearing black hoodies with a yellow and pink Starkidz logo on them. They are in a classroom.BBC / Ryan Dobney
Ellie and Jan Hayes said they offered to stage the free events to help lift spirits and support the mental wellbeing of children in the town

Jan said: "We have found that there are a lot more people and children affected than you would ever think."

She said they had been overwhelmed by the response from schools when they offered to stage the free events, with more planned in March.

Ms Hayes said seeing the joy on the children's faces and hearing them singing "as loud as they possibly can" had "kind of healed us as well as the kids".

"We just want to see children smiling again," Ellie said.

"These silent discos are our way of giving back, making sure every child gets a moment of joy, no matter what they've been through."

BBC / Ryan Dobney Jan and Ellie Hayes smile while sitting behind the mixing desk at the silent disco. They have computers in front of them and are wearing headphones.BBC / Ryan Dobney
Event organisers Jan and Ellie Hayes said they approached schools in the lead-up to children's mental health week

One of the schools involved was Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School.

The event there was also a fundraiser for the North West Air Ambulance charity.

One pupil at the school said: "I think it's good to bring smiles to other people and raise money for people that need it."

Another added: "We do a lot of fun things here and it helps us with our mental health."

BBC / Ryan Dobney Linda Thompson smiles at the camera as she stands in the school hall. She has blonde bobbed hair and is wearing a red patterned top. Three adults can be seen blurred out in the background.BBC / Ryan Dobney
Head teacher Linda Thompson said the event "really does give them (children) a sense of feeling well and of being present in the moment"

Head teacher Linda Thompson said the event had created "fun, happy memories and lots of laughter" for the children and it was good that "they can see how the community are giving back to them".

She said the event enabled children to be "present in the moment" and "to feel connected to each other".

"We are a million percent confident that they will go home and can't wait to tell their adults at the end of the day what a wonderful day they have had and that will take them through the half term," she added.

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