Remembering Her Majesty - special concert at Billingham Forum to pay tribute to the Queen

The Forum Theatre in Billingham will host the event on behalf of the ABF The Soldiers Charity, on Saturday, October 15.

The Queen was the patron of the ABF charity and the concert was due to have been a celebration of Queen Elizabeth ll’s life.

But the plans had to be rearranged after Her Majesty’s death and Lieutenant Colonel Barney Barnbrook, Area Director for North East and Yorkshire, A.B.F. the Soldiers’ Charity, told how the event would have a new tone which would be appropriate to a commemoration.

"We started planning for this last year, and everything was going fine until the sad news,” said Col Barnbrook,

The programme will now include references to the music and dance which the Queen loved including Cheek to Cheek , We’ll Meet Again, and the White Cliffs of Dover.

The Royal Signals (Northern) Band will play Jupiter which was played at the Queen’s Coronation.

A spokesman for the event said: “The special guests will be His Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of County Durham as well as the Mayor and consorts both of Hartlepool and Stockton and the respective Armed Forces champions of both Hartlepool and Stockton.

“Pam Royle will be reciting the speech that Princess Elizabeth made on her 21st birthday to the Commonwealth and Empire, declaring a life of service.”

The concert will also feature Sandy Smith, Colin Bourdiec, the Forum Theatre School and Paula Marie.

It will be held 55 years to the week that Her Majesty and Prince Philip officially opened the Forum complex.

ABF is the Army’s national charity and provides a lifetime of support to soldiers, former soldiers and their families. Last year, it gave support to 60,000 people in 60 countries.

The concert starts at 7pm on October 15 and tickets are £15 per person or £12.50 with concessions, available from the Forum box office.

Proceeds from the event, which has also attracted sponsorship, will go to the charity after all costs have been covered.

The box office is also available on 01642 552663.