50th ANNIVERSARY OF BBC TELEVISION'S SONGS OF PRAISE

That this House congratulates all involved over the past 50 years with Songs of Praise on BBC Television; notes that the first programme was broadcast on 1 October 1961 from the Tabernacl Baptist Chapel in Cardiff and that the 50th Anniversary programme will be broadcast from Alexandra Palace, London, on 2 October2011; registers with admiration that it is one of the longest-running television programmes in the world; pays tribute to the team behind each week's production and observes that some 200 people have presented it during the last five decades; records with acclaim that Songs of Praise has for 50 years beena familiar and much-loved part of the nation's television viewing, with more than 1,800 congregations involved in productions in cathedrals, churches, chapels and iconic settings throughout the UK and some overseas; and looks forward to many more years of programmes providing a unique blend of vibrant hymn-singing and uplifting human stories broadcast from beautiful locations around the British Isles.