Auburn Jam Music are releasing You Will Be Found by #CheerUpCharlie & West End Friends, a fundraising charity single in aid of youth charity The Diana Award, on Sunday 15 November to tie in with the start of National Anti-Bullying Week (16-20 November).
The star-studded single is led by ten-year-old Charlie Kristensen from Wokingham, whose experience of being bullied started the viral #CheerUpCharlie campaign. Charlie is joined on the song by numerous stage and screen stars including Wendi Peters, Layton Williams and Michael Xavier, with Iain Armitage, Michael Ball, Rufus Hound, and Faye Tozer amongst many famous faces reading their supportive messages on the song’s video. The single is available to pre-save now on iTunes, Deezer, Spotify and Tidal at https://ditto.fm/you-will-be-found.
Charlie won over the hearts of the West End theatre industry and the public last year and hit the national headlines when, encouraged by his singing teacher West End performer Jacqueline Hughes, he launched his #CheerUpCharlie campaign to help others, channelling his own traumatic experiences of being bullied for his love of musical theatre, and the support he received from hundreds of performers from the West End, Broadway and even Hollywood who identified with Charlie’s story. Subsequently Charlie was trained as an Ambassador by The Diana Award which runs the UK’s leading anti-bullying programme. Charlie has also set up his weekly online Musical Chairs chat show on YouTube interviewing actors, presenters and others in the spotlight.
Music producers Nikki and Joe Davison from Auburn Jam Music approached Charlie and Jacqueline after they saw Charlie’s story on Twitter last year. They invited Jacqueline to bring Charlie to their studio to have his first experience of recording, and Jacqueline put the word out to some of her fellow West End performers who had shown Charlie support to see if they might like to record with him.
The song choice was obvious to everyone – the powerful anthem You Will Be Found from hit musical Dear Evan Hansen, about the courage it takes to be yourself through tough times until you find your people. Nikki and Joe wrote a new pop orchestration and arrangement to accommodate the many voices, and they were so moved by how many performers came together in support of the #CheerUpCharlie anti-bullying message, that they thought the world should hear it! So, they created a video featuring studio footage along with some of the amazing messages of support Charlie received from stars of stage and screen. They hope that through this they can raise awareness and financial support for the brilliant work that The Diana Award does.
Charlie Kristensen said: “It is an amazing feeling to have a single released and especially one that is so spectacular and sincere. I want people to associate the single with hope, determination and strength especially at this current time. I want everyone to recognise this song and for it to help people understand life isn’t perfect, we aren’t perfect but we are amazing just the way we are.”
The single, You Will Be Found by #CheerUpCharlie & West End Friends, released on Sunday 15 November, will kickstart National Anti-Bullying Week which runs from 16-20 November. The song will be available to download and stream via all major online music services including iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon, and the accompanying video will be available on the Charlie Kristensen #CheerUpCharlie YouTube page. All proceeds from the song will be in aid of The Diana Award, with an additional fundraiser set up via JustGiving for people to donate more if they would like to support the #CheerUpCharlie Anti-Bullying campaign further.
Singing alongside Charlie Kristensen on the single are (in alphabetical order): Daniel Boys (Nativity), Matthew Croke (Aladdin), Alice Fearn (Wicked), Lyndsey Gardiner (The Phantom of the Opera), Adrian Hansel (Hairspray), Jacqueline Hughes (Mary Poppins), Melissa Jacques (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie), Caroline Kay (The Space Between), Nathaniel Morrison (Waitress), Nadim Naaman (The Phantom of the Opera), Wendi Peters (Coronation Street), Zizi Strallen (Mary Poppins), Layton Williams (Bad Education) and Michael Xavier (Sunset Boulevard).
