8 Christmas singles benefitting good causes
Melanie May | 16 December 2024 | News
The battle for Christmas number 1 is on – will it be one of the tracks below? Here are 8 of this year’s Christmas singles that are raising funds for charities.
Leigh Francis’s Christmas Pigs
Comedian, entertainer, and Virgin Radio UK presenter Leigh Francis has released Christmas Pigs to raise money and awareness for Children with Cancer. The track features celebrities, including Liv Tyler, Paloma Faith, Louise Redknapp, and Paddy McGuinness. It was born out of Francis’s personal experiences with cancer: his father passed away from throat cancer at the age of 47, and more recently, two of his close friends have both had cancer diagnoses.
East 17’s Stay Another Day
Stay Another Day has been released by London Records on a Limited Edition ‘ice clear’ 7” vinyl for its 30th anniversary via east17.lnk.to. The label will donate £1 of every sale to Nordoff and Robbins.
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Band Aid’s Do they know it’s Christmas (2024 Ultimate Mix / 40th Anniversary Video)
This is the new ultimate mix version of Band Aid in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the original release. It includes vocalists from the earlier versions of the single released by Band Aid, Band Aid 20 and Band Aid 30. Funds raised by the single will benefit the Band Aid Trust.
Jords x Christian Aid’s ‘Hold On To Hope’
Rapper Jords has released Hold On To Hope, a new Christmas rap song in collaboration with Christian Aid. The aim is to get Christmas No.1 while supporting peacebuilding efforts in regions like Gaza, Lebanon, and Ukraine. The track blends rap, R&B, and gospel, reimagining what a modern Christmas anthem can be, and features London’s iNSIGNIA choir.
Police Dog Hogan’s Pull Away
Folk band Police Dog Hogan Christmas single Pull Away, recognises the sacrifice of RNLI lifeboat crew volunteers and aims to drive awareness of the charity to help raise funds across the Christmas period. The folk song recounts a fictional Christmas Day rescue. The opening verse sets the scene of lifeboat crew members being woken in the middle of the night, to launch the lifeboat and go to the aid of a ship in distress in violent seas. The accompanying music video was filmed at Selsey RNLI lifeboat station and features the band playing inside the boathouse, interspersed with RNLI archive footage.
Sam Clegg’s Send Me a Sign
Sam Clegg’s Send Me a Sign has already reached number 1 in the official charts and also got over 1.5mn views on YouTube in one week. Clegg wrote, sang and produced it independently to raise funds for Re-engage and Friends of the Elderly.
Marsh Family’s Universal Child
The Marsh Family have covered Annie Lennox’s Universal Child for their Christmas single, to raise funds for Save the Children. The family of six from Kent first went viral with their pandemic parody songs in 2020.
Big Shaun and the Steel People’s Fire Safety Dance
By crew from South Yorkshire Fire and Recuse with local band Big Shaun and the Steel People, Fire Safety Dance is a play on the Men Without Hats hit The Safety Dance. It has been released to celebrate the daily work of firefighters and mark the brigade’s 50th anniversary, and proceeds from the single will go to the Fire Fighters Charity.
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.