The sea of happy faces on the huge video screen, each saying a special thank you to two very special people, would have melted even the hardest of hearts.
And there wasn’t a dry eye in the house at this year’s Pride of Britain Awards, in partnership with TSB, as Jamie McCallum and Rebecca Carless stared up at the young people whose lives they have helped to change.
The pair, who are both parents of children with Down’s syndrome, made a Carpool Karaoke-style film of 50 mums and their children with the condition singing and signing along to the Christina Perri song A Thousand Years.
The moving video went viral online and has now been watched 500 million times.
And on Saturday night the pair were honoured with the award for their efforts to change minds and lives, and got a special video montage thank you from the youngsters in the film too.
In fact, the night was full of surprises for the kind-hearted pair.
They had been enjoying a drink and a chat at their table when the spotlight fell on them and host Carol Vorderman announced they were not just guests as they had initially thought.
Instead they were this year’s recipients of the TSB Community Heroes award for their work creating a charity that challenges perceptions of children with the genetic condition.
Jamie, 42, and Rebecca, 38, were both taken aback by the honour.
Jamie said: “It was a real shock... but it’s a good surprise.
“The charity is essentially run by hundreds of people and there’s a whole team that work harder than we’ve ever done and this is really for them.”
Rebecca added: “They all do it in their spare time. There’s so much dedication, hard work and passion because we all feel the same thing because we are all living it in real life and our kids are the real driving force behind everything.
“Our kids are something special and we want to share that with the world and that just gives everyone the passion to really push it forward into society and to change those perceptions.” Jamie and Rebecca are the founder trustees of parent-led charity Wouldn’t Change A Thing.
The organisation challenges negative and outdated perceptions of Down’s syndrome and provides advice on inclusion.
The pair first made contact with each other in early 2018, when Rebecca, from Coventry, decided to make the film of the parents and children signing and signing along using the language programme Makaton.
Rebecca’s son Archie, eight, has Down’s syndrome, and while she had no problem recruiting another 49 mums to take part in her video, she had no idea how to edit it.
Appealing for help online, she was contacted by Jamie, from Prestwick, Scotland, who made the film at home.
In March that year, it became one of the most-watched viral videos of all time and was shared by celebs including James Corden.
Rebecca said: “We never, ever imagined it would pick up such momentum. We are just normal mums, we love our kids, they love us and we wouldn’t change them. Initially the video was just to put out to family and friends and it went crazy and it was on a platform where we thought we can actually make a difference.”
The film was shared using the hashtag #wouldntchangeathing.
And the name provided inspiration for the charity Rebecca set up alongside Jamie, whose eight-year-old daughter also has the condition.
He said: “Rosie was born with Down syndrome unexpectedly.
“The perception at that time is that you’ve been landed with a bunch of problems and that is what I now know to be wholly untrue.
“When I had that realisation I felt compelled to tell everyone about it.
“Rosie is a force to be reckoned with. She has opened doors in my mind that will never be closed.”
During the awards night, Jamie and Rebecca had another surprise in store
when Top Gear presenter Paddy McGuinness arrived on stage.
He was joined by Rosie and Archie, as well as Jamie’s other children Abigail, 12, and Gregor, six, and Rebecca’s kids Zachary 11, and Bethany, five.
Paddy told tearful Jamie and Rebecca: “I have just spent time with your kids, and they are a credit to you and you’re amazing parents.” Afterwards, he added: “I was fortunate enough to spend time backstage with the kids, and listening to Rebecca and Jamie talk.
“Awareness is such a massive thing these days and as a parent of children with autism we are always doing things and these guys will know exactly what I mean when I say we need to get as many people’s eyes on it and talking about it, and long may the work they do continue.”
Holding her Pride of Britain Award, Rebecca said she found winning the honour “very humbling”.
She added: “You’re sitting in a room with some pretty inspirational people. We are then up there, and it’s like, ‘Hang on a minute!’. It’s very humbling.”
Jamie added: “I feel like I’m here because of ignorance and prejudice and those kinds of things.
“Actually, the guilt that comes with that, I’ll never get that time back and I don’t want anybody else to go through that.”
It’s a sentiment Rebecca echoed.
She said: “Archie has not long turned eight and at each birthday I take myself back to the day he was born and I still have that guilt of feeling sad.
“I don’t want any other parents to feel that way.
“He is part of our family and the whole, ‘I wouldn’t change a thing’, well I wouldn’t take the Down’s syndrome from him.
“I wouldn’t change the world for him. He shouldn’t have to change for anybody.”
- The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards, in partnership with TSB, is on ITV this Thursday from 8pm.