CHARITY SINGLE SHINES LIGHT ON CRISIS
Nine care workers from across the UK joined the Homecare’s Got Talent Choir to release a charity single recorded at the iconic Abbey Road Studios to raise urgent awareness of the shocking levels of financial hardship within the care sector.
Several famous faces have also shared their talents for the project having joined the Home Care’s Got Talent judging panel earlier this year: musician Kuill from The Voice, Married at First Sight’s Matt Jameson as well as The Fizz star Jay Aston. The track, a cover of Robbie Williams’ Angels, launched on Friday 28th November and immediately hit Number 8 on the iTunes Download Chart.
But behind the music lies a far more serious issue.
According to The Care Workers’ Charity, food bank usage among care workers is five times the national average. Many carers are working 60 hours a week yet still cannot afford to heat their homes or provide Christmas presents for their children.
The charity warns that half a million UK care workers are in financially precarious situations, with some earning the equivalent of below minimum wage once unpaid travel time and personal costs are deducted.
This Christmas, while care workers are supporting the nation’s most vulnerable, many of their own children are going without basic essentials.
Dan Archer, Founder of Homecare’s Got Talent and CEO of Visiting Angels, explained, “It’s a nice story that care workers recorded at Abbey Road… but the reality is far from nice.
“If this were starving children, the country would be outraged. Well, it is starving children – the children of the people caring for everyone else. We made this single to raise money, yes, but also to force the nation to look again at how we treat the people we rely on most.
“When you listen to the lyrics, they speak to what carers do ‘and through it all, she offers me protection’. It’s high time our policy makers did more to protect this precious workforce.”
The caregivers travelled from as far away as Scotland and North Wales to take part in the recording, representing home care providers Caremark, Home Instead, Voyage Care, Visiting Angels, Mochridhe, Vitality Care and Calon Lan Community Care. With the support of the public, they believe they can surpass the original version’s chart success from 1997 and go all the way to No.1.
All profits raised by the single’s downloads will be donated to the Care Workers’ Charity. The charity is dedicated to supporting the social care workforce, those providing care and support to the million+ people drawing on social care.
The project’s message is simple: care workers deserve better and so do their families. Angels by the Homecare’s Got Talent Choir is available to download now:
