Britain’s Got Talent finalist Travis George spoke about his love for Torfaen yesterday as he was presented with a civic award from the leader of Torfaen Council, Anthony Hunt.
The 23-year-old was invited to the civic centre to collect the award in front of a chamber of councillors. He said: “I want to give a massive thank you to Cllr Chris Morgan (Lowlands and Avondale Ward with Cwmbran Community Council) and Cllr Sue Morgan (Pontnewydd Ward). They’ve been generous, they’ve been supportive, they’ve been caring of me since my journey to BGT began and I simply wouldn’t be here today without them. It’s a total honour to be here today, a total honour to receive this wonderful gift. It’s almost left me speechless, almost. Anyone who knows me knows me, that’s a very rare occasion.
“When I first entered Britain’s Got Talent, two of my main priorities were to not only inspire those who like me, feel like an outsider, feel unaccepted by life, to fight for what they want and what they dream for, but also I wanted to show the entire world that Torfaen is a beautiful place and there are some fantastic things that the local community does. And I want to give a promise to everyone here today, especially after this very generous gift that no matter what happens in life, no matter where I go in this new found career for mine, I want to continue to do that no matter what happens for the rest of, until Torfaen wants me to. Thank you everybody and picking up from what Cllr Hunt said please be kind to your fellow man, fellow woman, fellow everybody. You never know what someone is going through and let’s represent Torfaan and show everyone that we are a loving community.”
Cllr Anthony Hunt, council leader, said that Travis was diagnosed with autism while at primary school and left secondary school with no formal qualifications. But he then went and gained a grade 7 in musical theatre from the University of West London with a distinction after a 98% score. Following this he volunteered at Able Radio in Torfaen while successfully gaining some acting roles in TV programmes. Then earlier this year he reached the final of Britain’s Got Talent. Cllr Hunt said: “Travis is now recognised in the street and thought most of his singing work has been for charity events, which he loves to do some paid work is coming his way, mainly for next year but it’s encouraging in his hopes of becoming an entertainer as a way of making a living looks more and more hopeful. He’s also working on an original album.
“A few years ago Travis would never have been able to stand on stage and sing in front of 4.000 people and judges. He’s made his family proud and more recently has made Torfaen and Wales proud. Travis will always state that seeking help should never be put off through fear or embarrassment. The more we do as a community to get the message out that it’s ok to admit when we’re not ok, the better we’ll be. The more we’ll talk as part of our life skills that it’s just as important to reach out when we’re not feeling well mentally as well as physically then the better we will be.”