Hackney kids record charity single with Mark Owen
Take That’s Mark Owen has recorded a charity single with children at Grasmere Primary in Stoke Newington.
The world-famous singer re-released ‘Hold up a Light’, one of Take That’s most popular songs, in tribute to Linda Brown, whose son Jamie (a dad at the school) co-wrote the song. Linda, a former singing teacher, died aged 71 from cancer last year and money raised will go towards the hospice that helped care for her and towards a new outdoor play space at Grasmere, where her grandchildren go to school.
Mark Owen said “When my good friend and song collaborator, Jamie Norton, asked whether he could re-record ‘Hold Up A Light’ for charity to raise money for the hospice that looked after his mum during her final weeks, of course I said absolutely and wanted to help in any way I could.”
Jamie also took part in yesterday’s London Marathon, which marked the anniversary of his mum’s death. He raised over £6,000 for Salisbury Hospice, completing the course in just three hours 28 minutes.
The new version of Hold Up a Light has been stripped back and among the Grasmere stars singing on it are Jamie’s children Ned, nine, and Miller, six. The black and white video shows little children waving lights and singing and we dare you not to cry!
Jamie hit on the idea of the charity single and accompanying video as he struggled to come up with a message for his JustGiving fundraising web page. He said: “‘Hold Up A Light’ was being used in the Christmas Show at my sons’ school. Listening to the song again and hearing children singing it, it seemed more apt than anything I could say just in words. I’m incredibly grateful to Mark and the children for their time and talents and hope that we can raise some vital funds through this release.
“The song is dedicated to anyone who holds up a light, including all the Marathon runners who are raising money for causes close to their hearts.”
He wrote on his Just Giving page he described his mum as “amazing in so many ways” and added: “Running a marathon is actually about life and celebrating it.”
Jamie first penned the track with Take That’s Mark Owen, Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange and fellow writer Ben Mark. The original was released as a single in 2009 from their number one album, The Circus, quickly becoming a crowd-pleaser on their bestselling tour starring Mark on lead vocals. Everyone involved in the track, associated video and artwork gave their time for free. All profits are being split evenly between the Salisbury Hospice Charity, and the Stoke Newington school’s FROGS appeal to build an outdoor play space.
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