‘Lean on Us’ say TY lads
STUDENTS at a Fermoy secondary school have set their musical sights on the Christmas No 1 in a bid to raise funds for Crumlin’s Children’s Hospital and to honour a classmate who is bravely battling cancer.
Transition Year students at St Colman’s College in Fermoy this week recorded their version of the Bill Withers’ classic, ‘Lean On Me.’
The 1972 song was chosen by the 74 Transition Year students to show solidarity with one of their 15-year-old classmate’s ongoing battle for health.
‘Lean on Me’ is one of only nine songs to have achieved No 1 status in the US charts for two different artists, with cover versions of the song by other artists also making it into the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.
St Colman’s students are now hoping to add an Irish Christmas No 1 to that proud chart list.
Assisted by teachers Sarah Barry and Claire McCarthy, the bid to achieve Ireland’s Christmas No 1 single has been dubbed ‘ColmansStandTogether’.
All proceeds from the single and its accompanying YouTube video will go to Crumlin’s Children’s Hospital and The Ronald McDonald House.
“The aim is to raise as much as we possibly can for these hugely deserving causes,” said music teacher Sarah Barry.
She said teachers and families at the school were taken aback by the sheer enthusiasm with which Transition Year students embraced the idea of recording and releasing the fundraising single.
“Support for the project has been nothing short of inspirational. It has been fantastic to see the students putting such huge efforts into this and we want to support them all the way.”
The single was recorded in the school by a production team of Mark Cahill and David Geddes.
St Colman’s College Principal, Veronica O’Donoghue, said everyone at the school was immensely proud of the project and the solidarity being shown by students with their young classmate and his family.
“We are certainly hoping that the single gets the public support it deserves,” she said. The single and video will be launched next Thursday to coincide with the annual St Colman’s awards night.