NHS staff to release charity single

By Hollie Ewers on 29 May 2018 NHS

A team of NHS staff are planning to produce a charity single to mark the 70th anniversary of the NHS.

Known as NHS Voices, the team is working with high profile music industry supporters, including Sir Paul McCartney, to create a cover of the Beatles song With a little help from my friends.

The project was started by NHS communications professional Joe Blunden who is also managing the creation of the track. He said he saw how hard NHS staff work every day, and wanted to create something that would show them all just how appreciated they are.

‘Having the support of Sir Paul McCartney is absolutely incredible, and we will be recruiting artists from across the last seven decades to help us celebrate everything that is great about our health system,’ Joe added.

Children’s doctor Katie Rogerson is also part of the team. She said: ‘We have a host of huge names who are itching to get into the recording studio, but we will also be involving staff, volunteers and patients from across the UK, so this really will be a song for everyone.’

In 2015 the team successfully campaigned to get the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir to Christmas number one, beating Justin Bieber. The same choir are hoping to reach the top spot again.

Choir leader and children’s community physiotherapist, Caroline Smith, has been helping to get this latest project off the ground too.

She said it is so exciting to be working on a project that celebrates the NHS. ‘We can’t wait to record with other NHS Trust choirs, and it is amazing that so many high profile musicians want to get involved,’ Caroline added.

All proceeds from the single will go to NHS Charities Together, a group of more than 100 NHS charities that have come together to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the NHS and raise awareness of the work that NHS charities do.