Brighton's answer to Band Aid raises thousands for children's charity

A Christmas charity single put together by a dozen Brighton businesses raised more than £6,000 to help sick children in Sussex.
Emma Jones and Katie Gibson from Pier Recruitment with the cheque for RockinghorseEmma Jones and Katie Gibson from Pier Recruitment with the cheque for Rockinghorse
Emma Jones and Katie Gibson from Pier Recruitment with the cheque for Rockinghorse

Staff at Hove-based Pier Recruitment created and launched their very own Christmas single to raise money for Rockinghorse, the fundraising arm of the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital and Trevor Mann Baby Unit in Brighton.

Inspired by a visit to the Royal Alexandra, Pier Recruitment director Katie Gibson and her team set about writing a festive song to raise funds.

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Having enlisted the support of local businesses to sponsor and sing on the track, they recorded vocals and produced a video for the song called ‘Santa Stop Here’, with additional support from North Brighton Recording Studios and Huga Digital Marketing.

The companies who took part to sing on the track, were staff from; The Focus Group, Posh Totty Designs, ZST Architects, Mercedes-Benz of Brighton, Quality Care Insurance Services, Domestic & General, Cobb Digital, Holiday Taxis, Neilson Holidays, and children from Bird Studios/BRICTT. Thanks also extends to the launch night sponsors; QA Apprenticeships, Purple Armadillo Pubs, Natural World Safaris and Harper Stone.

Since the single was launched on November 22, more than 3,100 people viewed the video online, and the song has raised £6,404 for Rockinghorse via text donations and sponsorship.

The funds raised will support ongoing projects at the Royal Alexandra, as well as the neighbouring Trevor Mann Baby Unit and its sister site, the Special Care Baby Unit in Haywards Heath.

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Katie said: “It has been fantastic to see what seemed a complex (and rather mad) idea, become a reality. We have been taken aback by the overwhelming support from local companies who have helped us make the project a resounding success. There was a lot of hard work involved – but seeing what we have achieved for such an excellent cause is totally worth it.

“This isn’t the first thing we have done for the charity, and it certainly won’t be the last…but for now all I can say is ‘thank you’ again to everyone who has donated and/or been involved. It was a whirlwind, but we did it!”

Ryan Heal, Rockinghorse chief executive, said: “We have been blown away by the determination of Katie and the team at Pier to make this single a success, and are overwhelmed with the amount of money raised. The support of all the other businesses has certainly not gone unnoticed and we are extremely grateful to everyone who worked hard to ensure Santa Stop Here was a big success.”

Rockinghorse recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, raising £500,000 in 2017 to support 10 beneficiary projects at children’s centres and paediatric services across the county.

To find out more about the charity, visit: www.rockinghorse.org.uk

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