A MANX charity is lending its support to the Military Wives Choir in a bid to help their single Wherever You Are reach Number 1 this Christmas.
The song has captured the country’s imagination following the success of choirmaster Gareth Malone’s BBC series The Choir: Military Wives.
Bookies have placed the Military Wives as the favourites for Christmas Number 1.
Proceeds from the sales will go to the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) Forces Help and the Royal British Legion – two military charities that support the Armed Forces community.
Jim Kewin, public relations officer for SSAFA Forces Help’s island branch, said: ‘The Military Wives typify everything that is good about the Armed Forces community – we are all behind them.
‘This campaign is fantastic for us as it raises the profile of the work we do locally and also the charity as a whole. We hope that people will buy a few copies for their friends to help nudge the single to the top of the charts.’
Wherever You Are was written by Royal Wedding composer Paul Mealor and the music is set to a poem he compiled from letters to and from the servicemen and their wives on a six month tour of duty in Afghanistan.
Support
It will be released on December 19 but it is available now for pre-order.
Gareth Malone’s 91-year-old grandfather is currently being helped by SSAFA Forces Help and the RAF Benevolent Fund. He served with the RAF during the Second World War and is just one of the 50,000 people that the UK’s oldest military family charity assists each year.
Locally, more than 30 families have been helped in the Isle of Man this year.
Alice Clarke, one of the singers in the choir, said: ‘The Military Wives Choir is delighted to be supporting SSAFA Forces Help, a wonderful and essential charity.
‘The help that it provides to so many military families – past, present and future – is varied and crucial.
‘The fantastic system of having people in all areas of the country is a reassuring blanket that most of us don’t even realise we sleep under.
‘As a military community we couldn’t be without you and the choir is proud to be singing for you.’
BBC Radio 2’s breakfast show presenter Chris Evans has put his full weight behind the Choir as the wives from RMB Chivenor and Plymouth traverse the country to promote the song on national TV, even making a public appearance at No. 10 Downing Street, pictured above.
A minimum of 40p from the sales of the record and 50p from each download will be donated jointly to SSAFA Forces Help and the Royal British Legion.