Christmas number one: the charity contenders
Melanie May | 6 December 2019 | News
The Official Christmas Number 1 race starts on Friday 13 December 2019 and the final result will be declared on the Official Chart, aired by BBC Radio 1 on Friday 20 December.
There are plenty of contenders in this year’s race for Christmas No.1 with bookmakers putting Lewis Capaldi as the 3/1 favourite.
Peter Welch from Gambling.com, however thinks some of the old Christmas classics could give Capaldi a run for his Christmas money:
“Although Lewis Capaldi is the current favourite, as December gets into full swing and some of the old classics get played more and more frequently, I wouldn’t be surprised if odds for the likes of Wham or Mariah Carey are slashed – we could see the old Christmas favourites creep into contention for the top spot!”
Or could one of these charity singles pip them to the post?
[youtube height=”450″width=”800″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=vJRyhNmgToI&feature=emb_logo[/youtube]
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Brain Tumour Research: When a Child was Born
Lyra Cole, aged six, who was diagnosed with a brain tumour when she was a baby has released a charity single this Christmas in support of Brain Tumour Research, which helped her when she was ill. When a Child was Born was originally written by Fred Jay for Boney M – and was more recently covered by Cliff Richard, whose version inspired this cover. On 5 December Lyra’s song was at the top of the Amazon downloads chart.
[youtube height=”450″width=”800″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_ee4lrg8eQ&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]
Shooting Star Children’s Hospices & Together for Short Lives: X Factor Run
Shooting Star Children’s Hospices and Together for Short Lives are benefitting from The X Factor’s charity single. A cover of Snow Patrol’s Run, it features all the stars of The X Factor Celebrity including winner Megan McKenna, as well as the three other finalists Jenny Ryan, Max and Harvey and girl group V5. Shooting Star Children’s Hospices and Together for Short Lives will receive 100% of the profits from the sale of each download.
[youtube height=”450″width=”800″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=14&v=1KQ8gleWYF4[/youtube]
The MS Trust: Share Christmas with Someone
The MS Trust is releasing a charity Christmas single. Hertfordshire resident and MS Trust supporter Ruth Green has recorded the single ‘Share Christmas with Someone’, with all the money raised going towards the charity’s vital work supporting people, like herself, living with multiple sclerosis. Ruth has lived with MS for over 27 years and is hoping to raise £5,000 to help support the charity’s MS specialist nurse programme.
[youtube height=”450″width=”800″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQWQC5RJsLg&feature=emb_logo[/youtube]
Celtic FC Foundation Christmas Appeal: Star of Glasgow’s Green & White
Celtic FC has released The Celtic FC choir ft. Johnny Mac and Faithful present: Star of Glasgow’s Green & White: the CD provides the soundtrack to its 2019 Christmas Film, with proceeds from the sale of each copy going to Celtic FC Foundation’s Christmas Appeal, which will help local families who are facing poverty to enjoy Christmas by providing food and gifts for the children.
🎄Christmas, Burn It All 🔥 is OUT NOW! All sales go to @FoEScot so please download, share, retweet etc. You can watch the full video here – https://t.co/uBJYdOVLed and find the song on your preferred music service here – https://t.co/FeaQAis62P pic.twitter.com/lMbdI2yXY1
— Randolph's Leap (@randolphsleap) December 6, 2019
Friends of the Earth Scotland: Christmas, Burn It All
Christmas, Burn It All – by Randolph’s Leap and The Olive Grove All-Stars – features artists from Scotland’s indie scene and aims to raise funds for Friends of the Earth Scotland.
Get streaming! https://t.co/WY9sTHVxj5 #PeppaXmasNo1 #UK pic.twitter.com/OhLiAidXHu
— Peppa Pig Official (@peppapig) December 5, 2019
Save the Children: Peppa Pig’s Bing Bong Christmas
Peppa Pig is launching her first charity single for Christmas with a donation from every stream and download going to Save the Children. Peppa is joined by a children’s choir for a festive take on her popular Bing Bong song, entitled Bing Bong Christmas.
[youtube height=”450″width=”800″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbNxvfNhFwI&t=168s[/youtube]
Alder Hey Children’s Hospital: Very Good This Year (Ho Ho Ho)
SmallBoy Featuring the friends of Catherine has recorded Very Good This Year (Ho Ho Ho), written by Burnley-based Mel Moon, of Small Boy Productions. The song will be released on Friday 13 December, with all proceeds from sales going to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. The song was written by Moon, after she was contacted by the mother of a young girl who had life-saving surgery at the Liverpool-based children’s hospital.
This past weekend our Silent Choir had their debut performance.
Today the Silent Choir is joined by @realmartinkemp @royalblooduk @TheAmazons @KTTunstall in the release of their silent Christmas track.
🎼🎶 Listen to it now >> https://t.co/rnhxq7lE7o#IHearYouth pic.twitter.com/4B8XjHQ5K1— The Children's Society (@childrensociety) December 18, 2019
The Children’s Society: The Silent Choir
Vocal artists including Royal Blood, The Amazons, ELIZA, HRVY, KT Tunstall, Martin Kemp, Leah Weller, Freddie Long and Joanna Forest have collaborated on a Christmas song with a difference for The Children’s Society: the first silent Christmas track. The track uses silence to highlight the stark reality that many children will be suffering in silence this Christmas, due to challenging circumstances such as abuse and neglect. It can be streamed on Spotify and listeners will be able to donate through The Children’s Society’s official website. The soundtrack follows the appearance of The Children’s Society Silent Choir, which only performed when members of the public offered their donations.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.