The second part of the evening of Julie Hesmondhalgh’s Freeman of the Borough award, was where people got to voice their tributes to Julie, and was interspersed with performances from local schools and performing arts organisations.

It took the form of a “This is Your Life” presentation and took us right back to Julie’s beginnings in a terraced house on Elmfield Street, Church and incrementally to the present day.

Julie, sitting in the audience now, underwent every emotion under the sun as she heard from colleagues and friends who paid glowing tributes to her, and she met people from her past who had some influence on her acting career today.

Simon Brierley, after this opening  phase of Julie’s life had been recounted, introduced pupils from Hyndburn Park Primary School who had written a poem about Julie but had also been going through the school’s records to find out as much as they could about Julie’s time at the school. They not only unearthed old school reports where Julie had come first, but  a letter from Julie’s parents when she left, congratulating the school on a job well done.

The four students giving the presentation were: Head Boy, Ibraheem Mahmood (10), Head Girl, Malaika Zaheer (10), Deputy Head Boy, Yusuf Ahmed (10) and Deputy Head Girl, Neha Ali (11).

They also learned that Julie had once played the part of Red Riding Hood at a School Nativity, so one of them dressed up as that character clutching the doll that Julie had held all those years before. After they had finished their presentation, an emotional Julie gave them all a big hug and thanked them.

Just before their presentation Julie had a big surprise as it was announced that her old English teacher from the primary school, Mrs Olga Mulderigg was here thie evening. Julie leapt into the audience to greet her old mentor with great delight.

Next came a tribute from two girls from Hyndburn Youth Council who read a speech celebrating Julie and all she does.

Then it was entertainment time again as pupils from Accrington Academy blew us away with their wonderful acrobatic and gymnastic display accompanied by the Academy’s drummers.

There followed a tribute from Accrington and Rossendale College which included an appearance from Julie’s old drama teacher Martin Cosgrif who now lives in Stratford. He described her as a ‘joy to teach’. This tribute was followed by a dramatic performance from the college’s drama students in which they were all seated and delivered lines, sometimes alone and sometimes in unison.

The first part of the performance saw them imitating an answer machine and delivering random messages during the course of a day. The second was a little more of a sound and vision presentation with actors shining a light under their chins as they spoke. It was indeed very well performed and received a great reaction from the audience.

Next we had a tribute from Maundy Grange. Lucy Hardwick described Julie as ‘magic and sparkle’ and said she was ‘a true and faithful friend’. Over the years Julie has been a patron of Maundy Relief, she has done everything in her power to help raise funds and promote the organisation founded by the late lamented Sister Dorothy McGregor.

Then Gayle Knight, Creative Director paid her tribute to Julie and introduced the next item.

The entertainment that followed this was probably  the funniest item of the evening. Oswaldtwistle Civic Arts Centre and Theatre presented:  The Life of Hayley Cropper in Three Minutes and Twenty Seconds.

The part of Hayley was played by Rebecca Ashton with Zack Knight playing husband Roy. The play told the story of Hayley from her surgery in Holland until her death in 2014. It even featured a gynaecologist who doubled as an oncologist. The timing was impeccable throughout and it literally brought the house down.

Other cast members included:  Rhys Sage as Sean, Maddie Knight as both doctors, Charlotte Joliffe as Fizz, Tianna Copland as Tracy, Nicola Joliffe as Baby/Advert, Katie Pratley as Sylvia and Charlie Walsh as Olaf.

The organisers were Creative Director, Gayle Knight and Creative Project Manager, Sophie Fitzpatrick, to whom I am grateful for providing the above information.

In her last year at Coronation Street, Julie played the part of Sylvia Lancaster in the play Black Roses: The Killing of Sophie Lancaster to great acclaim, at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre and Sylvia, Sophie’s mother, was the next person to add her tribute. The Sophie Lancaster Trust was set up in the wake of Sophie’s brutal murder for daring to be a little different, in the hope of preventing anything of this nature happening again. Sylvia said that she wouldn’t have trusted anyone other than Julie to play her character on stage.

Sylvia ended to rapturous applause and Julie rushed from her seat in the audience to embrace her friend in a show of mutual respect and admiration.

Then we had a musical item. Members of St Christopher’s Church of England High School dressed as animals and sang “The Circle of Life” from the Lion King.

The soloists and dancers were led by Annabelle Baldock as The Elephant, Sara Case as the Cheetah and Bridget Higginson as the Bear. The dance interpretation was first class and the singing was wonderful. The choreography was by dance teacher, Megan Jules, and Helen Davies, the Director of Music who also teaches  ‘A’ level Performing Arts, put the actors through their paces.

That was it. All the entertainment over, it was time for Julie to round off proceedings with her final speech. Standing from her seat in the front row of the audience she addressed all the performers who stood in an arc before her. Her speech was so memorable and inspiring, spoken straight from the heart, and I make no apology for reproducing it here.

“Keep hold of where you’re from and where you want to be; who you are and who you want to be and fight like crazy to make that happen.

“Every time you’re creative. Every time you sing, or write a song, or dance, or choreograph, or bang a drum, or sketch a portrait, scribble a poem or act a part, you are making the world a better place. Art is not an indulgence or a luxury. It’s an essential part of living. So even if you don’t make money from your art, the act of creating something  is enriching you, and the world.

“I’ve been to two funerals this week; unfortunately funerals of people who died way too young. Life is short, and sometimes very, very cruel, so please go, all of you, and live it to the full.

“Just to end, there’s a lovely piece of writing that I love and it’s George Bernard Shaw. I want to share it with you tonight. It goes:
‘I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege (my privilege), to do for it whatever I can.

‘I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no “brief candle” for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.’

“You are all amazing. It’s up to you now to go and make the world a better place. Believe in yourselves and stay true to yourselves. And thank you for tonight. You are all amazing. Thank you.”

There was extended applause, and an announcement from the MC that Potato Pie was available in the ante-room. Everyone left, cheered by a wonderful event and made their respective journeys home slowly, admidst new fallen snow and ice.

Report and pictures © Peter Jones 2015

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