{"id":609870,"date":"2026-05-29T07:11:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T07:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/609870\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T07:11:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T07:11:09","slug":"winchester-supports-britains-got-talent-finalist-rafferty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/609870\/","title":{"rendered":"Winchester supports Britain’s Got Talent finalist Rafferty"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n The 17-year-old Peter Symonds College<\/a> student impressed show judges with his musical magic act, earning the coveted Golden Buzzer in his audition before achieving victory in the live semi-final at the Hammersmith Apollo on May 22.\n<\/p>\n

\n Market-stall holders, baristas, front-of-house staff, and students in Winchester\u2019s streets expressed enthusiasm and encouragement for the performer.\n<\/p>\n

\n Abby Willis, 25, who works in The South Downs Social caf\u00e9, said: “It\u2019s so cool.\n<\/p>\n

\n “The fact that he\u2019s so young and charismatic, the way he got the crowd going was amazing.\n<\/p>\n

\n “Everyone in Winchester has been sent the link. [Because] it\u2019s such a small community, we all feel proud even if we don\u2019t know him personally.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Another barista \u2013 Sienna Woods, from The Square \u2013 shared her admiration for Rafferty.\n<\/p>\n

\n She said: “It\u2019s impressive to do at that age, to have that confidence to say, \u2018do you know what, it could go wrong, but I\u2019m going to do it anyway\u2019. It\u2019s insane, it\u2019s a really big achievement.\n<\/p>\n

\n “Also, that starts off a lot of branches onto anything else, cause he can be like, \u2018I\u2019ve done this\u2019. He\u2019s now got those little connections to anywhere really \u2013 it\u2019s a very good start. I mean, I wish I\u2019d done something like that!”\n<\/p>\n

\n Sean Thurgood, 36, business owner of thecheesestall at the Winchester farmer\u2019s market, said: “It was pretty fascinating.\n<\/p>\n

\n “It\u2019s surprising that someone can do such a thing \u2013 it was nice!\n<\/p>\n

\n Rafferty Coope (Image: Camilla Coope)\n<\/p>\n

\n “He\u2019s good at what he\u2019s doing, so [I would say], enjoy it, yeah \u2013 that\u2019s the main thing.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Further support has been given to Rafferty from his teachers at Peter Symonds College.\n<\/p>\n

\n Sara Russell OBE, principal of Peter Symonds, said: “Everyone at Peter Symonds College is incredibly proud of Rafferty and all that he has achieved in reaching the final of Britain\u2019s Got Talent. His creativity, dedication, and remarkable talent have inspired both students and staff alike.\n<\/p>\n

\n “Rafferty embodies the confidence, individuality, and passion we encourage in all of our students, and we will all be cheering him on in the final.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Tim Butcher, head teacher of Pilgrims\u2019 School, which Rafferty previously attended, said: “Pilgrims’ is incredibly proud of Rafferty and we’re delighted that his talent and warmth have seen him reach the BGT Final.\n<\/p>\n

\n “The whole school’s behind him!\n<\/p>\n

\n “Many of the staff have fond memories of his magic performance at our own Pilgrims’ Got Talent – to see him now doing what he does so brilliantly on the national stage is just fantastic. Rafferty’s a great advert for the joy in music and in performance, and we wish him all the luck in the world!”\n<\/p>\n

\n Support has even come from local politicians, with Danny Chambers<\/a>, the Liberal Democrat MP for Winchester and Mental Health Spokesperson wishing him luck.\n<\/p>\n

\n He said: “It was fantastic to see Rafferty make it to the final.\n<\/p>\n

\n “What’s so inspiring about Rafferty is that not only is he a mesmerising magician and musician but has been using his talent to champion young people’s mental health.\n<\/p>\n

\n “I hope everyone in Winchester and across Hampshire gets behind him and best of luck to Rafferty in the final. I know he can do it!”\n<\/p>\n

\n Rafferty’s parents have spoken of their pride in their son.\n<\/p>\n

\n Richard Coope, Rafferty’s dad, said: “It’s been wonderful to see Rafferty fulfil his dream of performing on Britain’s Got Talent stage.\n<\/p>\n

\n “We are proud of the way Rafferty is inspiring more young people across Hampshire to get into music and magic.\n<\/p>\n

\n “Thank you for your kind support.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Meanwhile, Rafferty’s mum, Camilla, said: “We are so proud of Rafferty, and we are so grateful for all the support he has recieved.\n<\/p>\n

\n “Please remember to vote for Rafferty during the live BGT Final on Saturday, 30th May.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Rafferty will appear in the live final on ITV1 and ITVX at 7pm on Saturday, May 30.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 17-year-old Peter Symonds College student impressed show judges with his musical magic act, earning the coveted Golden…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609871,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-609870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}