The National Lottery today (Saturday 30th July) hosted a special gig of the fan anthem ahead of the UEFA Womens’ Euro 2022 final tomorrow

Unique performance of the iconic anthem ‘Three Lions’ to support Lionesses ahead of tomorrow’s final

The special gig celebrated the £50 million National Lottery players have provided to women’s and girls’ football

Today, a special one-off performance at Camden’s Electric Ballroom saw Lightning Seeds and David Baddiel joined by singer-songwriter Chelcee Grimes for a unique rendition of the football fan favourite, Three Lions (Football’s Coming Home).

The special gig was staged by The National Lottery to celebrate England’s appearance in Sunday’s UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 final. The floor was packed as England fans all joined together to experience this once in a lifetime moment hearing Three Lions performed in honour of the Lionesses.

David, Chelcee and the band were supported on stage by former lionesses Fara Williams, Anita Asante, Rachel Yankey, Faye White and Rachel Brown-Finnis, to celebrate the Lionesses’ fantastic run in this year’s Euros.

The gig celebrated how, thanks to National Lottery players, over £50 million of lottery funding has been invested into football in ways that directly benefit the women’s and girls’ games. This includes support for female players on the performance pathway including current England squad members such as Lucy Bronze, Jill Scott and Ellen White.

The football anthem was performed at the end of a set by the Lightning Seeds at Camden’s Electric Ballroom where they were joined by former lionesses Fara Williams, Rachel Yankey, Anita Asante, Rachel Brown-Finnis and Faye White who share nearly 550 caps between them for England. The Lioness legends helped get the audience in a celebratory mood in anticipation of the team’s historic appearance in Sunday’s final for what’s sure to be an electrifying performance. The special gig was part of The National Lottery’s Revive Live series, which provides on-going support of grassroots live music in partnership with the Music Venue Trust.

Frank Skinner was unable to physically join the group on stage due to unforeseen circumstances, but cheered on from the sidelines. Frank said: “I was gutted not to be there but Chelcee and the Lioness legends did an amazing job on stage with Dave and the Lightning Seeds. All we now need is a win in the final! Come on England!”

David Baddiel said: “The National Lottery gig has been a lot of fun. There was a great atmosphere in the venue and although we missed Frank, Chelcee did a cracking job in his place. I hope we did the England team proud and wish them all the luck for the final.”

Chelcee Grimes said: “What an amazing buzz being part of this unique National Lottery gig and singing our hearts out in support of the Lionesses. This unique rendition of the famous fan anthem is something I’ll never forget. I never thought I’d ever share a stage with my heroes.”

Ex-England goalkeeper, Rachel Brown-Finnis, said: “It’s a dream come true to see the Lionesses make the final and what better way to show our support than by singing this iconic song as the England team prepare to go for glory. I would love nothing more than for England to lift the trophy, and I really hope their success is the start of something special for the women’s and girls’ game.”

Thanks to National Lottery players, over £50 million of lottery funding has been invested into football in ways that directly benefit the women’s and girls’ games. This investment includes specific programmes as part of the Women's Euros legacy, as well as supporting the sport's return after Covid 19 and other initiatives to inspire females to play the game outside the tournament.

Specific National Lottery funding around the Euro 2022 tournament includes continued support for female players on the performance pathway with National Lottery funding through SportsAid’s Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) and Backing the Best initiatives, with over £800k invested since 2012, benefiting current England squad members such as Lucy Bronze, Jill Scott and Ellen White.

On a community level, specific National Lottery funding initiatives to inspire more females to get involved include £1million to get more women playing the game in each host city (invested through Sport England), £500k through the National Lottery Heritage Fund to help enable the discovery of the history of the women’s game in England, a nationwide Arts programme facilitated through £800k of support (via Arts Council England).

The summer return of The National Lottery’s Revive Live Tour is taking place in grassroots music venues across the UK between June and September, with The National Lottery directly underwriting the touring and production costs.

The third phase of this ground-breaking partnership with Music Venue Trust, which represents hundreds of grassroots music venues, follows the overwhelming success of The National Lottery Revive Live Tours in 2021 & early 2022. During those tours headline artists including Sir Tom Jones, Sam Fender, Enter Shikari, Bastille and Frank Turner returned to their roots. Across the country 247 acts played 457 shows in front of more than 118,000 music fans with National Lottery players able to bring a friend for free, helping revive the UK’s grassroots live music sector following the Covid 19 pandemic.

The money for this initiative comes from a National Lottery promotional fund. It is not being funded by money allocated for National Lottery Good Causes or by Camelot.

For further information, please contact

Alice.cousins@freuds.com

Prachee.mashru@freuds.com

Notes to Editors:

About The National Lottery

● Camelot UK Lotteries Limited is the licensed operator of The National Lottery® and is committed to raising money for National Lottery Good Causes designated by Parliament. Camelot is not responsible for distributing or awarding these funds.

● The National Lottery generates over £30 million each week for National Lottery-funded projects. In total, over £46 billion has now been raised and more than 670,000 individual grants have been made across the UK - the equivalent of around 240 lottery grants in every UK postcode district.

● The National Lottery has awarded over £86 billion in prizes to date and created more than 6,500 millionaires or multi-millionaires since its launch in 1994.

● For further information on Camelot, The National Lottery and its games, please visit: www.camelotgroup.co.uk and www.national-lottery.co.uk

● Players of all National Lottery games must be aged 18 or over.

About Music Venue Trust

● Music Venue Trust is a registered charity, created in January 2014 to protect, secure and improve the UK live music network by securing the long-term future of iconic grassroots music venues such as Hull Adelphi, Exeter Cavern, Southampton Joiners, The 100 Club, Band on the Wall, Tunbridge Wells Forum etc. These venues have played a crucial role in the development of British music over the last 40 years, nurturing local talent, providing a platform for artists to build their careers and develop their music and their performance skills.

● We work to gain recognition of the essential role these venues fulfil, not only for artist development but also for the cultural and music industries, the economy and local communities. We aim to preserve and improve venues, making them more efficient and improving the experience for performers and audiences. Long-term we plan to acquire the freeholds of as many of these vital venues as possible.

● Since the pandemic forced grassroot music venues to close their doors early in 2020, Music Venue Trust, via its #saveourvenues campaign, has helped unlock over £80m of funding from donations and government initiatives, which has seen over 500 venues secure their immediate futures.

● Music Venue Trust is a Charity registered with the Charity Commission of England and Wales, registration no: 1159846.

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