When Peter Boxell dreamed that he was singing a song to his son Lee, who had been missing for 25 years, he never imagined it would eventually take him to the final of Britain’s Got Talent.
In 2013, the father casually mentioned the dream to someone from the charity Missing People and, by the following day, arrangements had been made for him to visit a recording studio and work with a producer ahead of a Christmas event at St Martin-in-the-Fields church in London.
He told The Independent: “I didn’t know what to say, because she had gone through all this trouble, and I’ve always wanted to see the inside of a recording studio. So I said, ‘Yes, I’ll go,’ thinking that once they heard me sing, they’ll probably think of an excuse not to have me sing the song at the event.”
But that December, Mr Boxell performed the song Where Is Lee? to a congregation at the church. “I’ve got a very loud voice, so I didn’t need the microphone or the PA system,” he said.
“I filled the church with my voice, and I felt as though I was singing to my son. It’s a really strange feeling. It was really cathartic and really uplifting, and I actually got a standing ovation.”
Alongside the charity Missing People, The Independent is aiming to raise £165,000 to launch SafeCall, a free new service to help the 70,000 children reported missing each year find support and safety no matter what.
After hearing of Mr Boxell’s experience, music producer James Hawkins and Clare Cook from the charity decided to form the Missing People Choir for people with missing loved ones. The group aims to raise awareness of the issue that has devastated so many families, while also helping to ease the burden they face.
More than a decade on, the group of more than 20 people has performed with The Vamps at London’s O2 Arena and reached the final of Britain’s Got Talent in 2017.
Its television appearance ended up reuniting two missing people with their families after they saw their faces publicised during the performance and returned home.
Donate here or text SAFE to 70577 to give £10 to Missing People – enough for one child to get help.
Mr Boxell, whose son Lee went missing in 1988, said: “It is a great loss when a child goes missing. My son has been missing since he was 15. Now he would be in his fifties. It’s been very hard for me, but I do look forward to each month when we get together, and that does help me enormously.
“We rehearse together and meet together. That gives me something to take my mind off my loss.
“We’re all good friends and we all help each other and support each other, and it is like a little community, really.”
For Mr Boxell, one of his favourite performances took place at Cornbury Music Festival in Oxfordshire. He said: “I’ll never forget that. There were about 40 of us and we all stood on an enormous stage. When we walked on to perform, the whole field was filled with thousands of people, mostly families, all waving and cheering.”
Bek Stratfield, another member of the choir, joined after her 17-year-old son Finn went missing in Cornwall in 2017. “It is obviously a place where no one wants to be, but we get together and there’s an empathy and compassion within the choir and the supporters of the choir as well,” she said.
“Sometimes, if I think I’m going to get slightly nervous, I just think of why I’m doing it – and I’m doing it for my son, Finn. To be honest, that’s all I think about really, trying to get the words right.”
The choir aims to meet at least once a month to perform or rehearse, with its repertoire including original songs written for the group, as well as songs with lyrics that reflect their experiences.
Mr Boxell said: “It helps us to come together, and we get a degree of comfort out of that. Just being together in the same room, singing together, we don’t have to talk to each other… We’ll sing, and it’s so uplifting for everybody to do that.”
Please donate now to The Independent and Missing People’s SafeCall campaign, which aims to raise £165,000 to create a free, nationwide service helping vulnerable children find safety and support.
For advice, support and options if you or someone you love goes missing, text or call the charity Missing People on 116 000. It’s free, confidential and non-judgemental. Or visit www.missingpeople.org.uk/get-help
