Derbyshire charity aiming for Christmas chart topper

Along with corporate partner Strata, the charity is releasing a Christmas song, hoping to raise money to support b:friend’s aims of reducing social isolation experienced by our older neighbours.

The charity currently supports over 1,000 older neighbours in the North East Derbyshire and South Yorkshire region and looks to pair volunteer befrienders with those suffering from social isolation in the over-65 age range. They also run weekly social clubs, where they run a variety of activities.

Strata, a construction company building new homes in the North East Derbyshire region, has been supporting b:friend this year as their charity partner.

The charity single, ‘Footprints in the Snow’, is the work of Chesterfield resident Andrew Bradley. Andrew works at Strata as a Pre Development Engineer but he’s also a professional songwriter, producer, and musician.

Andrew, along with the team at Strata, wrote and produced the Christmas single and developed a music video that features some of the older neighbours that are supported by b:friend.

Andrew said “We had a lot of fun filming the music video and the neighbours were absolute superstars during the shoot. Acting isn’t really my thing but we had no need to worry and it was a great day and experience for all involved. We just need your support through social media, radio, and local TV stations to help push this campaign as far as we can to help raise awareness for the charity and maybe make a push to break into the charts.”

Colette Bunker, b:friend CEO, said "b:friend are so excited about Footprints In The Snow entering the running for Christmas number 1. Christmas can be an incredibly lonely time for our older neighbours and we feel like this song not only captures that, but also the importance of creating meaningful community connections which is what b:friend exists for.

“Our older neighbours absolutely loved being involved in the music video. Doing the shoot at one of our social clubs is a great way of showcasing how b:friend can make a difference in people's lives. We hope that this catchy song can help people take notice of our work and we are really grateful to Andy and the team at Strata for making this happen."

The charity single will be released on December 8 where supporters will be able to download the song for just 99p, and all proceeds will go towards b:friend.

To download the Christmas charity single, head on over to https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BLL76CYC/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?crid=HODYR7RS1ZU0&keywords=andrew+bradley+footprints+in+the+snow&qid=1670450753&sprefix=andrew+bradley+footprints+in+the+snow%2Caps%2C133&sr=8-5