THE many talents of Ribble Valley youngsters were showcased at The Grand in Clitheroe.

The ‘Raise’ talent contest, at The Grand, was held to raise support for and awareness of the Solomon Project, which is run by the Clitheroe theatre.

Children from 10 schools from across the Ribble Valley performed in the show, displaying a range of skills including singing, playing the piano, and drumming, and two boys performed as the ‘Blues Brothers’.

But the overall winner was 10-year-old Isabella Roscoe, from St Mary’s RC Primary School, Langho.

Year 6 pupil Isabella perfomed Somewhere Only We Know, which was originally made famous by indie band Keane, but is now back in the charts after singer Lily Allen recorded a version of the song for this year’s John Lewis Christmas advert.

Isabella fought off stiff competition from the nine other finalists to take home the prestigious title.

St Mary’s headteacher Janet Malone said: “We’re absolutely so proud of her.

“She really enjoyed taking part in the contest.

“She was really surprised when she did win but she sang beautifully on the night.

“All of her family and friends were there and they were so proud of her and the gracious way she accepted her win at the end.”

Louise England from The Grand said: “Isabella was a worthy winner, she has an incredible voice.”

Children who took part in the talent contest spent eight weeks working with The Grand, learning about The Solomon Project so that they could educate other children in their schools about the work that The Project does.

The Solomon Project helps some of Kenya’s poorest children by providing a meal to them at school each day.

The feeding programme is mainly centred on the slum areas in the town of Eldoret, and aims to get street children into schools.