Perfect Day - Beverley Keenan

Thanks to Sir Terry Leahy and his staff we now have the Tesco download set up so people can now also download from Tesco Digital by clicking HERE

Message from Sir Terry Leahy – Chief Executive of Tesco

'The impact of Rhys' tragic death hit the whole community, and for Tesco staff in Liverpool it was brought home because his parents are colleagues. At the time, staff raised tens of thousands of pounds in just one day, collecting at our stores for the Rhys Jones Memorial Trust. I'm delighted that Tesco can help again by selling 'Perfect Day' to raise even more money for this important cause.'

Dear Liverpool,

From the day Rhys died the support we have received from the people of Liverpool – and across the world – has been overwhelming. It has helped us to see the good in people in our darkest days and without that we would not have had the strength to carry on and achieve justice for Rhys.

Within a couple of days of Rhys’ death we started to receive sacks of letters, many from strangers across Liverpool and also many from countries as far away as Japan and Canada. We sat down and read every single one and still treasure them all. Many were from people who had lost a loved one too, offering us advice and guidance on what to expect from our grieving.

That helped us to accept that what we were feeling was normal – that going to the shop and buying Rhys’ favourite cereal, forgetting he would never be at home to eat it, was all part of our mourning. Many letters were simply prayers; brief words of support without a name or address. But every single one of them helped us more than we can ever express and we have tried to answer them all.

We would be in tears reading them, but those words from strangers were a huge comfort. Knowing that people had taken the time to write to us, and had felt our pain, slowly helped to restore our faith in humankind. Since the verdict came in, we have received lots more letters of support. Again, this means more to us that we can ever express and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. As well as the letters the kind acts of strangers in this city stand out in our minds. We will never forget the lady who knocked on our door with a lasagne big enough to feed our family twice over or the gentleman who came with biscuits and teabags.

We’ll also never forget the man who came up to us at Rhys’ grave and told us he often stopped by to talk to our son and tell him the Everton results. It is acts like this that have assured us that we are not alone – and that Rhys will never be alone either. Although in the future we hope to move away from Croxteth Park we will never leave Liverpool. We have always been happy here and realise, despite everything, that it is only a minority spoiling our communities for the rest of us. The majority of people in this city are good, hardworking and honest and we have felt their warmth and their compassion more than ever since Rhys’ death. The people of Liverpool have taken Rhys to their hearts and to know they love and care for him too helps us enormously. It is the people in this city that make it special – in our minds there is no other place like it where the people feel your pain and sorrow.

The football fans at Anfield who clapped us when Z Cars was played and put their red arms around us have shown that. The Liverpool Echo and all the people who have supported the Liverpool Unites campaign in Rhys’ name have shown that too. And the countless strangers who have approached us on the street with kind words have confirmed it. Liverpool has embraced us at this darkest time and we will always be grateful for that. Now, as Christmas approaches, we are bracing ourselves to start the next chapter in our lives.

For us, the festive period, even knowing Rhys’ murderer is now behind bars, will not be a time for celebration. We will spend it quietly, with those closest to us, but without Rhys Christmas will never be the same. We miss him now more than ever and although he now has justice that pain will never go away. We can only hope that we find the strength to re-build our lives without him – and we are sure the love, goodwill and compassion of the people of Liverpool will help us achieve that.

Once again from the bottom of our hearts we thank you all and urge you to join us in supporting Liverpool Unites in 2009 as we work together to make our city a safer place for our children to grow up in.

Love Stephen, Melanie and Owen Jones x

‘I have just listened to Perfect Day and was moved by it. Beverley has a great voice’  

Stars of the Liverpool Music scene support Perfect Day