A school choir has joined with the electronic pop duo Ooberfuse to launch a bid for Christmas Number One. Stonyhurst St Mary’s Hall school choir recorded the original track, Christmas Time, in aid of Survival International, a human rights charity.
Christmas Time debuted at #3 in the Religious and Gospel chart on UK iTunes when it was released on December 6. It has also gained the support of TV station Now Xmas. The station is currently airing it alongside popular tracks by Robbie Williams and Michael Buble.
Survival International supports tribal communities globally. It works in partnership with communities to fight racism, land theft and forced development.
Stonyhurst St Mary’s is the prep school for Stonyhurst College. The choir hopes Christmas Time will aid the Tupi indigenous people who are victims of August’s Amazon rainforest fires.
Ooberfuse are an alternative electronic band. They have performed across the world and fuse east and west to create their tracks.
Hal St John of Ooberfuse said: “When the Amazon rain forest burned like an apocalyptic inferno in August this year it was not only flora, fauna and wildlife that were destroyed: the homes, habitats and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of indigenous peoples went up in smoke too. We started to think about how we could use our music to make a difference.”
A chance conversation with their friend Greg Mann, Stonyhurst St Mary’s choir director, led to the collaboration.
Mr Mann said: “The children have really enjoyed the whole experience of working with Ooberfuse to help their peers who traditionally dwell in the Amazon rainforest. We hope and pray that this charity single will raise money for Survival International.”
Midge Ure, who composed Christmas song Do They Know Its Christmas with Bob Geldof, was among those who wished Ooberfuse and the choir good luck with their Number 1 bid, tweeting: "Good luck with it."
The Bishop of Salford, John Arnold, also congratulated the children and said: “The young people will show us the way with climate protection.”
A 7-year-old pupil from the choir said: “When we heard stories about the indigenous children of the rainforest losing their homes we asked ourselves the question: what will our peers from the rainforest be doing this Christmas now that their homes have been destroyed? When we are unwrapping our presents with our families around us in our homes what will they be doing? We hope that our song can raise some money for them to make their lives a little more comfortable this Christmas time.”
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