The Breck Foundation works tirelessly to find innovative ways to educate children about internet safety and grooming. The March edition of the Caterham Independent featured the news that the Foundation has recently published a series of books aimed at SEN and primary school students.
Author and Breck Foundation trustee, Mark Harrington, has also written an album, ‘Song for Breck’, which includes songs designed to support the books and to help begin conversations about online safety.
On a drizzly night in lockdown, Mark put pen to paper and began composing the first of the three tracks, ‘What If’. It is written from the perspective of Breck’s mother, Lorin Lafave, and focuses on the dilemma of what she could have done differently, and how she feels following the loss of her son. Mark then worked with his good friend, Kate Hawken, to fit a tune to his words.
From this, the ideas kept flowing. 'This is My World' is a song from Breck’s point of view about the wonders of the internet. 'My Game' takes a darker look at the tragedy through Lewis’ eyes. The team from QM studios in Horsham, Sussex (Adam Gellibrand, Jack Coldrick and Jodie Munday), stepped in to produce epic backing tracks for them.
Mark began a Crowdfunder page, hoping to raise £1,500 to record the songs professionally at QM studios, and hire a filmmaker to create videos to accompany them. Support for the project, despite the COVID-19 lockdown, was incredible and quickly surpassed the target.
Next came the big search for singers and Mark was astounded by the talent that came forward. Joe Chadwick, a theatre graduate, landed the role of Breck, Amy Putt became Lorin and Dom Bryant took on the challenge of ‘My Game’.
Over the course of a week, the team recorded and filmed the tracks with the help of QM studios and Angus Hubbard, from Loaded Productions.
Seeing how the project had grown was extremely emotional for Mark, and he was also able to observe how the songs impacted adults, as well as children.
The books, music and many other resources are available through the Breck Foundation website www.breckfoundation.org.
'Songs for Breck' is available on all good streaming sites, including Spotify, ITunes and TikTok. You can follow Mark Harrington's projects on Facebook and Instagram at @harrington_projects.
