Singing to a sold-out audience at the Royal Albert Hall is a moment that most performers spend their whole life aspiring to reach, but a young man from Carlisle will achieve this dream in November.

Ben Taylor, 21, is a passionate singer with a great love for musical theatre, and music more generally.

So, when the opportunity to perform at the Royal Albert Hall came up - he wasn’t just going to let it pass him by.

With the help of Carlisle Youth Zone, where he volunteers and takes part in the senior club, Ben submitted two audition videos performing songs that showed off his vocal range.

“I got the letter a few weeks ago, asking if I wanted to sing at the Royal Albert Hall, and I said yes,” Ben said. “I was literally lost for words at first because the Royal Albert Hall is such a big event and it’s such a big theatre.”

“You watch all the Late Nights at the Proms and all the specials, you just think ‘wow, it must be really good to perform there.’

“Now, I’m actually performing at the Royal Albert Hall - it’s amazing.”

It is part of the OnSide Awards which will celebrate what youth zones across the country are doing to support young people.

Ben will be performing alongside 20 other young people in a choir.

There were two sides to his decision to put his name forward to perform on behalf of Carlisle Youth Zone.

One was his deep love for singing and performing, but the other was in thanks to the youth zone for providing Ben with the opportunity to sing.

“The youth zone has given us a lot of inspiration and singing opportunities,” he said. “A few weeks ago I sang at the Halston with a few of the young ones - we sang The Greatest Showman songs.”

His appreciation, and respect, for Carlisle Youth Zone isn’t one sided. A group will be joining Ben in London to cheer him on and support him during this incredible moment.

Lynsey Buckle, development manager for Carlisle Youth Zone, said: “We’ve always known Ben was talented, he’s grown up with Carlisle Youth Zone and his singing is legendary here.

“When we were given the opportunity to put up young people to represent Carlisle at the Royal Albert Hall we felt that this was Ben’s moment to stand out and shine.

“It’s going to be such a privilege to watch him sing to a packed Royal Albert Hall.

“The audition process has been tough, with eight youth zones now across the country representing 40,000 young people. To get through to actually sing at the event is a very big deal.

“We’re so proud of Ben, he’s always been a star but now he’s finally getting the recognition he’s due.”

When he first started singing, back when he was in school, he was singing pop songs but he slowly gravitated towards musical theatre.

In fact, one of his audition songs was from the Broadway hit Dear Evan Hansen - a musical about acceptance and understanding who you are.

“When I started getting proper singing lessons, I got into musical theatre and the first song I listened to was Stars from Les Misérables,” he said.

Ben’s passion for singing is clear and it has brought a lot to his life.

“It’s just the best feeling ever. It helped me improve my confidence. Singing makes you feel like you haven’t got a care in the world.”