My name is Benjamin Till. I am a composer and film maker with a passion for community and documentary musical projects. BBC Outreach has funded a large number of the BBC films I've been involved in, from high-impact all singing-all dancing feel good musicals like Coventry Market The Musical to much more thought-provoking pieces like 100 Faces for BBC North East and Cumbria and Songs About Hattersley, a hard-hitting piece, which explored the lives of a group of residents from Manchester's troubled Hattersley estate.
This may sound bold, but in my view BBC Outreach single-handedly justifies the licence fee. Why? Because it touches people and communities who wouldn't normally have a chance to have their stories heard. It gives people the opportunity to celebrate their lives and take part in projects that will stay with them forever. Every time I run a project, I witness an almost bewildering number of people "breaking through" sometimes just by daring to open their mouths and sing. One woman from Newcastle said if she could dare to sing solo, she could dare to do anything, and after taking part in the Metro the Musical film, learnt to drive and swim.
One of the Hattersley songs tells the story of the community centre on the estate which is being closed down. When I played it to the woman who runs the centre for the first time, she cried and said; "that's my life! You've summed up 20 years of my life in a 3 minute song!"
And of course behind each of these projects are scores of stories, which can provide local television and radio with a plethora of packages. There's nothing more moving often than a real person telling his or her own story.
So many people in this country feel disenfranchised by the government and the media. They rarely get an opportunity to hear about "people like them" without gross and insulting generalisations coming into play. These projects give people the chance to say it "like it is" and for every person telling their story in one of my films, there are 100 people at home who will identify with what's being said. This is of particular relevance to the 100 Faces project. Behind every face in the film is a story with universal appeal which local radio and TV stations can explore in depth.
I was even contacted by sociologists at Sheffield and Salford universities after making the Hattersley film, who wanted to study it on university courses as a successful example of the media depicting working class life.
One chap in Coventry probably summed things up most succinctly. He worked as the caretaker in Coventry Market and had a starring part in the film we made. He was being interviewed by BBC Midlands Today about the project and revealed that his wife had dementia and that he'd been trying to share with her the joy he was feeling about being in a musical, but that she'd been unresponsive. He cried bitter tears. I'm told that scores of people who saw the interview sent letters of support to him, thanking him for being brave enough to share his story. He concluded the interview by saying; "In 20 years time, my grandchildren might say, 'is it true you was in a musical for the BBC?' and I'll be able to say I was!"
And that's what it's all about. My work with BBC Outreach has created a string of unforgettable, one-off experiences for people up and down the country, and if that doesn't justify the licence fee, nothing ever will!
100 people born between 1912 and 2012 share what made 2012 a memorable year for them.
*Benjamin's latest project was 100 Faces, which was broadcast on BBC Look North on 20th December 2012. 100 people in the region, one for each of the last 100 years, share why 2012 has been an important year for them. Benjamin worked with BBC Outreach and BBC North East and Cumbria to create the film.
