Tragedies lead to fund boost
Fundraiser signs music deal
A Scarborough songwriter who raised almost £30,000 for Cancer Research UK in two years has signed a contract with a music publishing company.
Neil Fitzpatrick of East Ayton wrote the song “Apart” when his friend’s sister was diagnosed with and subsequently lost her battle with bowel cancer.
The emotive ballad won the UK International Songwriting Contest 2014 and was released in April that year following the death of Neil’s beloved father, Derek to lung cancer, just two days after Christmas.
Neil said: “It was an awful time and witnessing firsthand the devastation that cancer causes pushed me to want to raise as much as possible for research into the disease.”
Neil was offered the publishing deal with Peer Music Group when he found out he’d been shortlisted to appear in a Sky TV show about songwriters, called Tin Pan Alley which will air next month.
Neil added: “It’s pretty amazing to sign with one of the world’s most respected music publishers and I’m really hoping someone with huge appeal will take my song to a global audience, so we can raise hundreds of thousands, if not millions of pounds to fund research into this awful illness.”
Neil and his friend Brett McMann are also hosting the Apart Ball 2016 at The Crown Spa Hotel, Scarborough on October 22 and are running two and a half marathons to raise more funds for the charity. “Apart” is available to buy at www.apartsong.co.uk and on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and Google Play. All proceeds go to Cancer Research UK.