THE voice of a popular North Yorkshire television show has given his support following the aftermath of summer flash floods which devastated hundreds of homes and businesses.
Ian McMillan, narrator and writer of Channel 4’s More4 The Yorkshire Dales and The Lakes, has turned to his poetry talents to write heart-felt verses for a charity auction.
Proceeds raised from the auction will go towards repairing the damage caused by the July's floods in North Yorkshire.
Mr McMillan said: “The Dales are a magical place for refreshing the body and nurturing the soul.
“When The Dales need our help it feels natural to reach out to them because, after all, their beauty and power have reached out to us forever.”
A proud Yorkshireman, known affectionately as the 'Bard of Barnsley', Mr McMillan is a well-known broadcaster who currently presents The Verb, Radio 3’s cabaret of words, and has featured in a number of national TV and radio programmes down the years.
Also described as the 'Shirley Bassey of Performance Poetry’, he has appeared at the Swaledale Festival and has also visited local schools.
Mr McMillan has penned a special poem, entitled Flood, to help fundraising for those in need after the extreme flooding when a month’s rainfall fell in a few hours and left more than 250 homes, around 35 farms and over 40 other businesses under water.
His pithy three-verse work speaks of those who were badly affected triumphing over adversity with the kindness of others.
A framed copy will be among items on offer through a charity auction next month.
It is alongside more than 70 lots including a rare watercolour entitled Silver Lining, specially painted for the cause by internationally renowned artist Mackenzie Thorpe, another Dales’ lover whose first studio is still his gallery in Richmond, North Yorkshire.
Money raised will go to the Two Ridings Community Foundation for distribution to those most in need across the dales.
More than £5,000 worth of raffle tickets have already been sold with the auction of promises standing at more than 70 lots from the painting and an aircraft wing walk to a shepherd’s hut holiday.
FLOOD, Ian McMillan
Where the waters rose, hope is rising;
Where the clouds burst, laughter’s bursting
Across these faces soaked by rain
Who dried their tears and tried again.
Where the floods flooded, land’s returning;
Where the walls fell, songs are falling
From the mouths of those who tell the tale
Of a storm-tossed time in a Yorkshire dale.
Where the sky was dark, light is breaking
Where lives were unmade, we’re all making
Something bad into something good
And love’s arriving like a flood.
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