Only serving postmaster from Hear Our Voice choir shares ‘magical journey’ to Britain’s Got Talent final

Hear Our Voice delivered an emotional performance on Sunday evening (May 18) and the public vote saw the group progress to the final.

The judges expressed their support to the choir, formed in response to the scandal around the Horizon computer system introduced at the Post Office.

Faulty technology led many subpostmasters to be penalised and incriminated, and this group is largely made up of those impacted during that time.

Chris Attridge is in his 34th year as a serving postmaster at Crick Post Office. He is hoping to break the record for the longest serving postmaster in Crick next year.

Chris previously worked at Vauxhall for 12 years until he was 28, until he and his parents decided they wanted a Post Office of their own as they were guaranteed a fixed monthly income.

The postmaster could never have imagined what his colleagues would experience down the line, and was passionate about joining the Hear Our Voice choir when the opportunity arose.

The idea originated in May last year when founder Mark Wildblood attended a hearing about the Post Office scandal in London.

Mark discussed the idea with those in attendance and Chris said: “Britain’s Got Talent wasn’t on their minds at that point – it was a form of therapy and to raise money for charity. It snowballed and I joined in November 2024.”

Chris has been closely following the scandal and went to London twice to watch hearings himself. After a plea was put out for current postmasters to join Hear Our Voice, Chris jumped at the chance.

“There were three objectives of the choir,” said Chris. “The first was to keep the scandal in the public eye as the Government keep kicking the bucket down the road. Criminal records have been lost but people have not been compensated.

“The second was to have fun. This is a form of therapy and it’s uplifting to sing in a group. The third was to raise money for the Horizon Scandal Fund and Lost Chances, for the children of subpostmasters.”

‘It’s still sinking in’

When asked to summarise what their Britain’s Got Talent experience has been like so far, Chris said: “It has been a fantastic journey. I’ve met a lot of fantastic people and we’re one gigantic family now.”

Chris admits it is “still sinking in” that the group has made it to the final – particularly as his bread and butter is selling stamps to the community, and this has been a “surreal” turn of events.

As well as the judges showing their support to the group and their former colleagues who were impacted by the scandal, Chris is pleased that courage has been acknowledged as part of their talent.

“It’s one amazing ride,” said Chris, who was working a shift at Crick Post Office just two days after their Britain’s Got Talent semi-final performance.

He was taken aback at how many congratulations he received from customers, and says he “nearly lost his voice” chatting to so many from the community.

Chris continued: “What I have seen this morning serving customers – if that is mirrored across the country, I think we could win it. I want to temper expectations, but it would be fantastic if we win.

“People still love post offices despite the scandal. They don’t associate frontline postmasters with the scandal.”

Chris’ sister Judy was part of the choir at the beginning and accompanied the group at their Blackpool audition. She was unable to perform at the semi-final but Chris hopes Judy will join them for their final performance.

“My wife Maragaret is my number one and has put up with so much,” said Chris. “The choir has online meetings as we’re all over the country. She’s a diamond and deserves a golden buzzer.

“She has held the fort at our Post Office and we are approaching the busiest time of year with Crick Boat Show.”

Chris concluded by thanking the public, members of Crick village and the team at Britain’s Got Talent for the ongoing support on this “magical journey”.