High Hopes Songs of Praise

Can you believe it's just over four months

since the London Olympic and Paralympic Games

played out so spectacularly on the world stage?

It seemed like everyone on these isles

had an extra spring in their step,

forgot their worries, smiled at one another

and felt a bit more hopeful about life.

I wonder what your hopes are for the new year.

Well, in today's Songs Of Praise, we meet some inspiring people

who may give you reason to be hopeful in 2013.

Shauna Muamba hoped thousands of football fans

would pray for a miracle.

Johnny Dawson-Ellis suffered tragic consequences

after a motorbike accident,

but decided to choose hope over despair.

Singing our hymns with their hopeful messages,

we've gathered choirs from across the north-west,

joined by the Radio 2 Young Choristers of the Year.

The renowned architect behind the Cenotaph,

Englishman Edwin Lutyens, certainly had hopeful aspirations

when he built his crypt in Liverpool in the 1930s.

It was intended to form part of the largest cathedral in the world,

but the Second World War forced the abandonment

of the huge building above.

That wasn't the end of hope or the project,

and today's shining example, designed by Sir Frederick Gibberd,

sits proudly on the Liverpool skyline.

Our first hymn, like all our hymns today,

reflects that amazing quality human beings can hold onto,

even when the going gets tough -

hope.

# Morning has broken

When Bolton Wanderers footballer Fabrice Muamba suffered

a catastrophic cardiac arrest during a match last March,

thousands of shocked fans feared the worst,

but one person never gave up hope -

his wife Shauna.

Take me back to the day Fabrice collapsed.

What were you doing?

Sat right here, watching on the telly.

There was no-one around him, no-one pushed him

or it wasn't a bad tackle. He literally just fell.

I knew it was serious just based on the reactions,

the silence and the chanting of his name from both sides.

I knew it was serious.

They had no idea if he was alive or dead either.

What did the doctors tell you in the hospital?

They told me that if I was lucky,

Fabrice would be severely brain damaged,

or based on the time he didn't get oxygen,

he would probably be in a vegetative state,

so basically just a shell, existing on life support.

How did you feel about that?

I felt grateful that he was alive, so it was something to work with.

You used social media when it happened, didn't you?

I think my first tweet was, "God is in control."

That's how I felt in that moment,

that's why I said that, kind of thing.

I'm glad I did that now, you know, because that helped me, you know?

God was in control and that gave me my strength,

knowing that something way bigger than me was watching over Fab.

Sometimes in moments like that, you kind of think,

"Oh, my God, it's hopeless, why me, why?" And for me,

it wasn't a case of, "Why me?" or, "Woe is me,"

it's kind of, "Thank you, God, for keeping him alive."

Do you think prayer made a difference?

I totally believe that prayer made a difference.

Not only me praying for him as his partner,

but the way the world collectively prayed for him.

It's like the nation took us into their homes

and into their hearts, and they really didn't have to.

In that moment, it didn't matter who we were or where we came from

or anything like that.

It was just a collective moment where everybody just prayed for us.

If it wasn't for people out there praying for him,

caring about him collectively, I don't think...

Maybe he wouldn't have pulled through the way he did, you know?

Messages of support poured in from across the world,

and Fabrice left hospital just a month later

after making a miraculous recovery.

How difficult was it for you to remain hopeful?

You know, where there's life, there is hope,

and I think you always have to have faith, you know?

They say faith can move mountains as well,

and I prayed for God to keep Fabrice alive.

He did that for me.

He made sure he woke up. He made sure he's fine.

Beside a bit of short-term memory loss, Fabrice is fine,

so I got more than I prayed for.

Normally, the only singing you associate with a football club

is the chanting coming from the terraces.

Manchester United, one of the most famous football clubs in the world,

is getting noticed by local teenagers

for something other than football - its foundation choir.

But this choir, made up of a real mix of voices and backgrounds,

is putting hope and faith back into young lives.

# 5, 6, 7, 8

# 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... #

I guess because music and sports are so different,

it's nice to be able to actually get a different group of people.

For instance, we have quite a large group of lads that come,

and I think, in most choirs,

it's quite hard to get a lot of guys to join,

because it's not a cool thing, really.

You know, it's not something that most guys can go to school,

"Oh, yeah, I'm in a choir."

But when it is part of one of the best football teams in the world,

I mean, to be able to say that you're in a choir for Manchester United,

it does reach out to a new...

to a lot more people.

It's actually really amazing to be here and singing,

because it's always been a dream of mine,

and just to fulfil that dream

is just really amazing, actually.

A lot of people would be out doing things probably they shouldn't.

A lot of people spend time in parks and things like that,

and I know the choir gives children the opportunity

to come here and socialise, meet new people,

make really good bonds with people,

and it gets them off the streets and gives them something to do.

At times, I do feel like there's someone guiding me there,

like God, cos I'm a Christian and I pray to God.

So, yeah, I think there is a guiding angel there for me.

The choir supported me at a time of my life

when I was losing a lot of hope in everything.

I was going downhill with college.

I'd left home, I was getting quite depressed.

The choir's brought me through and helped me,

and now I'm studying music at university,

and that probably wouldn't have been achievable

without the choir's support.

It's exactly the same as being a footballer

or being a sportsperson. Do you know,

it's about working in a team

and it's about turning up, working hard.

# I'm bullet-proof, nothing to lose

# Fire away, fire away... #

Not all choirs do sing things in the charts

and you wouldn't really expect it,

but it's all songs that are uplifting songs,

that are feel-good and songs that are relevant today

and that everybody enjoys singing as well,

and then at the end of it, when we've worked hard,

we actually get to do these absolutely amazing things

which really are worth all the hard work.

The choir gave a performance

at our School Choir Of The Year competition,

and though they weren't being judged as part of the competition,

they certainly wowed the audience.

# I'll sing it one last time for you

# Then we really have to go

# You've been the only thing that's right

# In all I've done

# And I can barely look at you

# But every single time I do

# I know we'll make it anyway

# Away from here

# Light up, light up

# As if you have a choice

# Even if you cannot hear my voice

# I'll be right beside you, dear

# Louder, louder

# And we'll run for our lives

# I can hardly speak, I understand

# Why you can't raise your voice to say

# To think I might not see those eyes

# It makes it so hard not to cry

# And as we say our long goodbyes

# I nearly do

# Light up, light up

# As if you have a choice

# Even if you cannot hear my voice

# I'll be right beside you, dear

# Louder, louder

# And we'll run for our lives

# I can hardly speak, I understand

# Why you can't raise your voice to say

# Louder, louder

# And we'll run for our lives

# I can hardly speak, I understand

# Why you can't raise your voice to say

# Oooh. #

Johnny Dawson-Ellis was just 29 years old

when a routine journey home from work tragically changed his life.

But when he chose hope over despair,

he found himself in one of the greatest shows on earth.

It was on the way home from work that, on a motorbike,

I lost control on the road,

slid along the floor and broke my back.

I remember being left in a room on my own and, you know,

the realisation of the fact that I would never walk again.

There in that hospital, did you ever run out of hope,

or think to yourself,

"Now I'm in a hopeless state," if you like?

Yeah. You sort of feel very vulnerable,

and being such an independent person prior to the accident

and then in hospital not being able to do anything

and having everyone have to work around you and help you is...

..you feel hopeless.

I remember thinking that there's two paths.

I could either stay positive and make the most of it,

or I could close up on myself and become upset about it.

When I came to that crossroads,

I searched inside myself and asked for help,

and I seemed to get that help

that actually pushed me in the right direction.

Do you think faith has helped you with your recovery?

Erm...yes, yeah, because it put me on the right track.

If I hadn't had that faith, then...

you know, I don't know what would have happened.

It seems that since the accident, your life has changed completely.

What part did you play in the Paralympic Opening Ceremony?

In the Paralympic Opening Ceremony,

I was part of a group of wonderful people.

We were all disabled in one way or another,

and it was so inspiring.

Everyone pushed each other on.

I was swung on ropes with nothing holding me.

I had to climb a four and a half metre carbon rod,

strap myself in at the top and then sway.

It probably was the best experience I've ever had in my life, you know?

You were told by the consultant that you'd never walk again,

and you're even having a go at that now.

Yeah, I've managed to become part of a process

of using robotic legs,

which is just phenomenal.

Firstly, you feel physically better, because obviously,

being in a chair the whole time, you're not moving your legs

and I get a lot of pain in the legs, but whilst you're walking,

you don't feel as much pain, and also you just feel healthier.

And mentally, being able to talk to people on the same level,

being able to walk across a room, it's almost unexplainable.

Everyone in a wheelchair, I have hope for their future.

You know, there's so many things going with technology and science,

and these legs are really...

you know, they're just the start.

You think back to when we had mobile phones, they were huge,

but now they're nothing and they're so light,

and it's the same thing with the legs.

You know, they're going to go in that direction.

I'm looking forward to the future.

I have so much hope for the future, for me and everyone else.

When Philippa Hanna was going through

her troublesome teenage years,

little did she realise that one day

she'd be sharing the same stage with superstar Lionel Richie.

Finding myself on tour with Lionel Richie

was an incredible blessing, so I can't help but be grateful

and thank God for the opportunity.

It just seemed as soon as I hit 13, I just became really insecure,

and you go to big school and you've got suddenly

this sea of people and you don't know where you fit in in that crowd,

and for me, I did lots of things to compromise myself, really.

So after leaving school without many qualifications,

I was a little bit lost, and around that time

I met some Christians, and I noticed that they had something

that I didn't have, which was this enthusiasm for life,

hope for the future and a peace about them,

and I was kind of really jealous, cos I just wanted to feel like that.

# For he is higher

# Than all the world could ever offer... #

And that's kind of what led to me asking God into my life,

because I just wanted to be like them.

So for me, it became a little place of, for me, personal worship,

just playing and singing, but then it led to me

writing all these new songs.

# I'm going to stay just the way God made me... #

This recent song, I was just thinking about what it feels like to be lost,

and I had this picture in mind of being out at sea in the night-time,

when you don't know where home is, you don't know where the shore is,

but a lighthouse is what shows you the way.

So I thought, for me, that's what God's like.

Cos even now, I don't know what tomorrow holds,

I don't know what next year holds or the year after,

but I really know that there's hope,

and as long as I've got my eye on that light, I'll be all right.

# So I send a signal flare into the sky

# You see me there and shine your light

# Cos you, you are a lighthouse

# My hope in the blackout

# I don't know how you found me

# But you, you are the lighthouse

# And you send the stars out

# When darkness falls around me

# And I feel not good enough

# But you light me up

# Yeah, I feel not good enough

# But you light me up

# I see the flicker and my heart awakens

# Like the beating of a drum

# Out in the distance, on the horizon

# Like the rising midnight sun

# And you paint the night the colour of dawn

# And I know I'll make it home

# I'll be safe and sound upon the sand

# With a washed-up diamond in my hand

# Cos you, you are a lighthouse

# My hope in the blackout

# I don't know how you found me

# But you, you are the lighthouse

# And you send the stars out

# When darkness falls around me

# And I feel not good enough

# But you light me up

# Yeah, I feel not good enough

# But you light me up. #

'Lord, since we know not what lies ahead of us in life's journey,

'guide our future steps in the way of your will.'

'For in fulfilling your plan for our lives,

'we shall be doing what is best for us and most for your glory.'

That's just about it for this first Songs Of Praise of 2013.

I hope we've instilled in you a little bit of inspiration

and optimism as we head into the new year.

We end with a beautiful hymn of hope to carry you on your way.

Now, just before we go, I know Christmas is officially over,

but whilst it's still fresh in your minds,

we'd like to hear from you about your favourite carol.

In fact, we're running a vote,

and the favourites will feature on this year's Christmas Big Sing.

Now, the only way to vote is via our website. That's...

So if you want to hear your favourite carol

sung in the Royal Albert Hall, get voting now.

We'll be running a similar vote for your favourite hymns very soon,

so watch this space.

Next week, David explores the past, present and future

of the Church in Stoke-on-Trent,

and introduces modern and traditional hymns

from Longton Methodist Central Hall.

Plus performances by Kristyna Myles

and Stuart Pendred.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd