Page 6 - Real Rochdale Issue 09 Winter 2020

Britain’s Got Talent
Young stars finish second
Dymond/Thames/Syco/Shutterstock
Sign language champions ‘Sign Along With Us’ are well-deserved
local winners with their message of inclusivity, after finishing in
second place in this year’s final of Britain’s Got Talent.
One of the ten final acts, Heywood siblings
Jade and Christian Kilduff who started the
group in 2019, were joined on the final stage
by other local children and adults, backed by
the Rochdale Music Service Youth Choir.
Determined to improve the lives of those with
disabilities, Jade started ‘Sign Along With Us’ in
January 2019, originally a daily sign-of-the-day
video page, teaching Makaton which she uses
to communicate with her little brother, five.
Christian has already overcome many
obstacles in his short life: stillborn at birth
before taking his first breath at 24 minutes old,
he was left with a brain injury from the lack of
oxygen. Placed on a ventilator to try and save
his life, Christian was given a less than 1%
chance of coming out of the coma.
REAL ROCHDALE - WINTER 2020
After learning ‘This Is Me’ from The Greatest
Miraculously, the brave little boy, who has
also been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and
registered severely sight impaired, has proved
critics wrong – going on to achieve milestones
his family were told he wouldn’t do.
After sharing their videos, Jade then began
offering free signing classes for all, quickly
being joined by many people keen to learn sign
language. Used alongside speech, Makaton is
based on British Sign Language and is signed in
English grammatical word order.
Over 100,000 children and adults use
Makaton symbols and signs, either as their
main method of communication, or as a way to
support speech.
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“Seeing your passion was just
Showman – the group’s unofficial motto – they
decided to audition for the TV talent show.
The group teamed up with the Rochdale Music
Service Youth Choir and in their first appearance
on the show were rewarded by David Walliams’
choosing them as his golden buzzer act, putting
them straight through to the semi-finals.
Their performance received standing ovations
from the judges and the group were chosen to
make it though to the final by the public after
their performance in their semi-final.
Due to coronavirus restrictions, the full group
of 70 weren’t on stage for the final – but Jade,
Christian and some of the group performed on
stage, joined by the rest of their signing family
via a big screen.
Wearing matching white and gold ‘Sign Along
With Us’ tracksuits, the group performed
country pop power ballad ‘The Climb’, originally
recorded by Miley Cyrus for the 2009 film
Hannah Montana: The Movie.
Jade hopes to keep the group doing what they
do best and keep spreading the important
message of inclusion.
She said: “Appearing on Britain’s Got Talent was
so exciting! I definitely had three favourite
moments, which were being awarded the golden
buzzer, placing second and then back at the hotel
after the final. The whole group was there
celebrating, singing and signing ‘This Is Me’.”
Jade asks Christian his favourite moment before
telling us that he responded by signing ‘This
Is Me’ – but it’s clear the little boy enjoyed the
whole experience – as seen by his grin on stage –
with Jade telling us he keeps saying ‘got talent!’
so moving. You are all just a
sign of joy and hope. The first
time we saw you, we fell in
love with you.” – Alesha Dixon,
judge on Britain’s Got Talent
Further inspired by her love for her little brother,
Jade also wants to use their platform to create
a fully-inclusive holiday home for children like
Christian. She estimates that getting started will
cost around £50,000 before maintenance costs
– and they are already 10% of the way there.
“My dream is for there to be a few, but we’d like
the initial one to be somewhere like Blackpool or
North Wales – not too far away, accessible and
with plenty of things to do.”
Jade concluded: “Coming second in a show like
Britain’s Got Talent shows that every member of
our group can be who they want to be, stand tall
and say ‘this is me.’
“This wasn’t shown, but I actually got really
emotional on stage. I love my group so much and
they have put endless amounts of effort into this.
They all deserve this so much and I’m so
incredibly proud of them all.
“Our story is so moving and the feeling I felt
after our performance was something that will
be with me for the rest of my life. Christian is a
little miracle and is showing the world sign after
sign how amazing he is.
“This is how much Sign Along With Us truly
means to us all.”