BIRMINGHAM City football fans who attend a centre for adults with learning disabilities in the Vale have created their own special version of the club anthem.
Service users at the Freedom Day Centre in South Littleton have made a video of Forever True using the sign language Makaton to celebrate the Blues fixture at Wembley against Peterborough United on April 13.
Forever True, which was released last March by Birmingham-based UB40, is chanted by supporters and played at full time after every match. The lyrics are set to the beat of the reggae band’s debut 1980 single Food for Thought.
The idea was the brainchild of the day centre founder Tracey Hemming and her daughter Rosie, as they have a lot of Birmingham City FC fans at Freedom and understood how excited everyone was about them making it to the EFL Vertu Trophy Final.
The pair set about teaching Makaton to 28 service users and seven staff members to realise the concept and posted the end result on Facebook. Much to the delight of its sign language superstars, the video has so far been shared 31 times across the UK and overseas.
“We’ve been playing it throughout the week and told them where it has been shared. It had been viewed in New Zealand, which they were all very excited about,” said Rosie, who works at the centre, a non-profit organisation that offers a range of educational, therapeutic and social opportunities for individuals with additional needs aged 16 and over.
“We have tagged Birmingham City FC and are hoping they will see it too, as that will make everyone’s day,” she added.
“I am so proud of everyone,” said Tracy, “they absolutely loved doing this.”
