Leicester Mercury

Charity single is one good thing to have come out of lockdown!

CITY AUTHOR AND SINGER-SONGWRITER JOIN FORCES TO BRING INSPIRING TALE TO LIFE IN CHRISTMAS SONG

- By BECKY JONES rebeccajon­es@leicesterm­ercury.co.uk @JournoBeck­y

A CHRISTMAS charity single has been produced to raise money for the NHS.

The song, There will be another Rainbow, is based on the children’s book The Fearless Fox and Daring Deer, written by Leicester author Joe Nixon earlier this year.

Book sales have now exceeded £5,000, with all proceeds going towards The Leicester Children’s Hospital Appeal, to help pay for a new facility where services will include world-renowned heart surgery.

The appeal will form a partnershi­p with BrightSpar­ks (an NHS-supported Arts in Mental Health charity) and Word! (the book’s NHS supported publisher) to support the thousands of children and families around the UK who will receive care at the new hospital.

Joe got the idea to write the book in March, when he was lying in bed with Covid-19.

He said he felt inspired by a news story about wild animals venturing into towns and cities during the first lockdown, and wrote the story about hope for a better world beyond the pandemic.

During the second lockdown, Joe

Joe’s enthusiasm and energy really inspired us and I’m proud of what we achieved

Mellow Baku

approached Leicester singer-songwriter Mellow Baku, and together they have written their single, which reflects the Rainbow Song part of the book where the animals come together in the empty town and sing to the humans.

Joe said: “As they sing a message of hope for a better future, they dare to imagine a world where humans and animals can live together in harmony.

“Mellow has interprete­d the theme of the book perfectly and sings and performs so beautifull­y. The finished result is beyond my expectatio­ns.”

Mellow said: “It was a fun challenge to work with Joe’s story of a fox and deer coming into town with a message for humans, as if it was from a musical Disney or Broadway classic – which of course it will be one day!

“Joe’s enthusiasm and energy really inspired us and I’m proud of what we achieved with the massive help of talented producer-musician, Adam Ellis at Deadline Studios, and GU-RU keyboardis­t Lee Spreadbury.”

Lydia Towsey, creative director of Word!, said: “We’re thrilled to be publishing this beautiful book and working together to present its gorgeous, rainbow-inspired title song and animation. The Fearless Fox and Daring Deer is a tale for these unusual times but also going forward – helping children and their families and carers make sense of a challengin­g year and look forward to the future.

“Thought-provoking, powerful and incredibly uplifting, the song is designed to reach out and speak to people of all ages, sharing a real message of hope.

“The proceeds will do so much for so many and the outstandin­g quality of both book and song is just so exciting.”

The single is available to download from platforms including Spotify and iTunes and all proceeds from the single and the book will be going directly to the charities.

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SONG OF HOPE: Author Joe Nixon and singer Mellow Baku

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