Military Voices aim for Christmas number one and to benefit service charities
Howard Lake | 30 November 2014 | News
An ensemble of singers from the military services together with other soloists has recorded a song that marks the centenary of the start of the First World War and the Christmas Truce and which will raise funds for three armed services charities.
‘1914 – The Carol of Christmas’ is available for purchase from today and “100% of the profits from the sale” will generate funds for the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund, The Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity, and ABF The Soldier’s Charity. Of course, its performers hope it will sell enough copies to get it to the vaunted Christmas Number One place in the charts.
The singers include Flight Lieutenant Matt Little, Abby Scott and twelve-year-old Canterbury Cathedral chorister and BBC Radio 2’s Young Chorister of the Year Finalist William Inscoe. They are accompanied by the Spitfire Choir, one of the RAF’s top vocal groups.
The song has been composed by Chris Eaton, who wrote the 1990’s Number One Christmas hit ‘Saviour’s Day’, and Judd Field.
Filmed at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior
The video for the song was filmed at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey and contains original footage from the First World War. It also features the Royal Marines Corps of Drums and representatives from the Sea Cadets, the Army Cadet Force and the Air Training Corps.
Composer Chris Eaton said:
“My hope and prayer is that my song ‘1914 – The Carol of Christmas‘ will move and inspire all generations as they listen, to remember with honour and respect those, past and present, engaged in war, and be filled with hope for everlasting peace through the message of Christmas.”
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Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund Controller Air Marshal Chris Nickols added:
“The First World War changed the lives of millions in Britain; almost every village lost young men and many of those that returned bore mental or physical scars from their service. Simply downloading this song is a wonderful way of honouring those who served in the Great War and supporting today’s veterans and military personnel.”
[youtube height=”450″ width=”800″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JzYnmYQFtA[/youtube]
The song is available for purchase on iTunes, Amazon MP3 Store and Google Play. with 100% of the profits from the sale of the recording going to the three military charities.
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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.