Il Divo join Halifax Online Christmas Choir for Save the Children
Howard Lake | 12 December 2011 | News
The world’s foremost classical crossover group Il Divo have recorded their own online version of the classic Christmas song We Wish You a Merry Christmas in order to help Halifax raise £100K for Save the Children. And the singing stars are encouraging other internet users to record their own versions of the song on a new Halifax online application.
The bank has pledged to donate up to £100k to Save the Children with every performance, helping the charity to support the UK’s poorest children.
From today, Facebook users can also record themselves singing the classic Christmas tune on the Halifax web based application and then combine their recording with Il Divo’s performance. The user can then upload their voices and those of the pop/opera stars to their Facebook wall, letting their friends know they have joined in and raised money for Save the Children.
Urs Buhler, Il Divo, whose 5th studio album ‘Wicked Game’ also debuted top 10 this week said: “For all of us, Christmas is such a precious time to share with family and loved ones. What better way to get into the Christmas spirit and at the same time help to give the UK’s poorest children the support they need, by taking part in the Halifax virtual choir initiative. We jumped at the opportunity when asked by Save the Children to get involved, it’s such a novel idea and supports the important work they do throughout the UK, helping the poorest children fulfil their potential”.
Halifax, whose community choir stars in its new television adverts, will donate up to £5 for everyone who participates in the online choir, giving individuals the opportunity to support Save the Children this Christmas in a fun way. Save the Children will receive £3 for every person who uploads their performance to Facebook, and an additional £2 when you hit the ‘click and we’ll donate’ button. Those who don’t want to sing can still get involved and raise £2 for Save the Children just by visiting www.halifaxonlinechoir.com and selecting the ‘click we’ll donate’ button .
David Nicholson, Managing Director, Halifax Community Bank, said: “Save the Children is our Charity of the Year for 2011, and the online Christmas choir is a fantastic way to end our year’s fundraising on a high note. Many people will have seen the Halifax choir in our television adverts and this is a fun way for Facebook users to sing along and help us reach that target of £100k”.
Save the Children has been Halifax’s charity of choice since January this year, and the partnership has already raised more than £1 million. Together, Halifax and Save the Children are helping families and schools work together to make sure the UK’s poorest children get the support they need. To date, enough funds have been raised to support almost 5,000 children.
Douglas Rouse, Corporate Partnerships Director, Save the Children, said: “We are proud to have built such a successful partnership with Halifax and Lloyds Banking Group. The online choir is yet another innovative fundraising activity that will make a massive long-term difference to some of the 1.6 million children living in poverty today in the UK.
“Save the Children believes that every child should have the chance to fulfil their potential, and we are very grateful to Halifax for helping us to make a positive impact on the lives of children in the UK.”
Facebook users can get involved by visiting the Halifax Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/Halifax
All can go to Halifax’ Online Choir (www.Halifaxonlinechoir.com) and click ‘Sing with Il Divo’ to take part.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.