Manchester Arena Survivors Choir perform at United Nations conference in New York

Members of the Manchester Survivors Choir have addressed a global congress for victims of terror attacks at the United Nations in New York.

The eight members of the choir took part in the special Congress For Victims of Terror at the UN Headquarters in Manhattan, singing and speaking at the events, on 8 and 9 September.

The group were invited to talk about their research project which aims to help young victims of future terrorist attacks. It is led by Dr Cath Hill who survived the attack with her 10-year-old son.

Cath said: "I had a moment when I was just going, '"Oh my goodness, it's Thursday morning and I would usually just be teaching at university and here I am singing with these incredible women at the UN.''

"It's a pinch yourself moment. I had to just take it all in and think if we're ever going to make a difference, we're going to make a difference here."

The choir sang the song 'Never Let Go', which was written and composed by 20-year-old choir member Ellie Taylor, who was 15 at the time of the attack.

She said: "It was very emotional but I'm really glad that I was able to create something for all of us which shows our message.''

"I think that I've reflected it in the lyrics and I'm glad we got to be able to perform it here."

"My favourite part is when we sing about holding hands altogether because now we've got each other.

"And although we started with something really negative, we've all come together and we've got each and every one of us to help each other through and support everyone."

Choir member Alicia Taylor was also invited to speak to other survivors during a special panel discussion as part of the congress.

The 19-year-old from Manchester is now a student at Durham University.

She wants to talk about her own experience at school in the wake of the attack in the hope that lessons may be learnt for the future.

Alicia told the panel about a bomb practice simulation which had taken place at her school nine months after the attack.

She says the practice set her and other victims back in their recovery.

She told the Congress: "I felt very invalidated by my high school as they did not recognise what happened to me and several other victims who were in the school.

"Only nine months after the bombing they did an unannounced bomb alarm which set many of us months and months back in our recovery.

"The schools need to be on the child's side."

Alicia's choir friends were there to greet her afterwards and say they were exceptionally proud of her for speaking out.

Yasmin Lee said: "I think it's such a difficult thing to talk about. But she did it so well.

"And I think everybody in the room was listening to what she had to say."

Manchester Survivors Choir was brought together by Cath to help them to cope with the trauma they and their families had experienced.

In May 2022, the nine girls began the Bee the Difference project, which aims to help young victims of future terrorist attacks.

It involves researching the experiences of young people in the aftermath of the Arena attack through a questionnaire which the young survivors have helped devise.

The online survey, created by UK disaster response charity the National Emergencies Trust and Lancaster University, will be open until the end of October 2022.

It is is open to all young people affected by the Manchester Arena attack and who were under 18 when it happened, including those impacted indirectly through a loved one or friend and those who were present at the Arena when the attack took place.

Mhairi Sharps, from Nationals Emergencies Trust, said the research is 'groundbreaking': "No one has done this before."

"No one has sat down with young people and said 'what worked for you and what didn't work for you? If you could wave a magic wand and go back, what would you have asked for?'

"It's just fantastic - the outcomes of this survey are going to influence across several sectors."

The findings will be shared with organisations who can help to create better outcomes for young survivors of terror including the government, healthcare and education providers.

The girls say the Congress was a moment to remember their own individuality. Lucy Jarvis said: "People might know us by what happened to us.

"And people might relate to something like, 'Oh, you're the girls who were involved in the Manchester Arena attack'. But that's not who we are.

"We're our own people. We have lives aside from that situation, I think that message she was trying to tell came across really well."

Speaking after the panel discussion, Alicia said: "I knew it was wrong, but I didn't know how wrong it was.

"And I just had to deal with it because I felt like I couldn't speak out. But now I've had this huge chance to speak out finally.

"I'm doing this for my 13-year-old self and all those kids who couldn't speak out."