Black Country choir bids for Christmas number one with charity single

Staff from Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital Trust, Councillor Carol Goult and staff and students Bristnall Hall Academy, in Oldbury – collectively known as the Heartbeats Choir – are releasing their charity single O Holy Night.

It also features the vocal talents of school governors, police community safety officers and local celebrity Kash "the Flash" Gill, four-times world Kickboxing champion.

The Heartbeats Choir performed the song at the official launch on Monday – which also include a special appearance from a Mr Nasty Simon Cowell lookalike.

All funds raised by the charity single will go to Your Trust, the charity run by Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital Trust who look after Sandwell, City and Rowley Regis Hospitals.

The idea was conceived by Amanda Winwood, fundraising manager at Your Trust Charity and record producer James Callaghan – a former Bristnall Hall Academy pupil who now works as a sound designer for the BBC show Doctor Who – has worked on producing the single.

Ms Winwood said: "We are so excited about the release of our single O Holy Night. I want to thank everyone involved in the project which includes the staff and students from Bristnall Hall Academy, the local police community safety officers, and our NHS colleagues.

“It is a heart-warming song which we are releasing at a joyous time for a very worthy cause.

“Every penny raised through sales of this single will go straight towards helping our charity enhance the patient experience our trust is known for.

“I’m asking everybody to support us, you can download the single for 99p or buy one of our limited edition CDs for £5.”

Mr Callaghan said: "As a former pupil of Bristnall Hall it was an honour to take on the challenge of composing an arrangement for this classic Christmas song.

“Working with Your Trust charity and the school is both rewarding and uplifting. I hope the single can raise some funds to help the local community."

Vince Green, principal at Bristnall Hall Academy, added: "This is an amazing initiative from Your Trust Charity raising funds for such a very worthy cause.

"Students and staff at Bristnall Hall Academy were honoured to be invited to host the recording and sing with staff from the trust who kindly committed their time and talent to the single.

"It will be great to see this charity single being well supported by people from our community and beyond.”

The single is now available for download on all major music sites including iTunes and Google Play.