A TALENTED professional trio well-known for lifting spirits in the Okehampton area are calling on locals to help them record We’ll Meet Again to mark the upcoming 75th anniversary of VE Day.

The Hummingbirds Trio Gemma Rich, Morwenna Millership and Jess Squire — stage names Grace, Bettie and Clara — are asking people to record themselves singing the final verse of the wartime classic to broadcast as part of their VE Day anniversary live concert on Facebook from 7pm on Friday, May 8.

A backing track is available to download on the trio’s Facebook page and the voices will be combined as part of the recording,

Jess said: ‘The VE Day anniversary weekend was going to be one of our busiest weekends and we had ten concerts booked. which have all been cancelled.

‘We thought this would be a way of lifting everyone’s spirits. We are going to miss the atmosphere of our live shows but this way they can be dancing in front of their TV screens instead!’

The girls have also been recording songs as Lockdown Living with the Hummingbirds’ on YouTube, among them Chattanooga Choo Choo, with ‘on the moor’ replacing ‘in Baltimore’, and Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree, made famous during World War Two by the Andrews Sisters. Thanks to the editing skills of Gemma’s husband, the trio perform as though on stage together, even doing household chores in glam costume.

‘We had one woman who shared our song who said she was feeling down at the moment and that our song had really cheered her up,’ said Jess. ‘She said we’d made her feel bright and full of energy and happy and that is exactly what we were hoping for. We hope people will join us on May 8, the more the merrier!’