An anti-bullying charity teamed up with a Raynes Park record studio to release a charity single last Sunday.
The single You will be found, taken from the hit musical Dear Evan Hansen, is lead sung by ten-year-old Charlie Kristensen from Wokingham, who hit national headlines last year with his CheerUpCharlie campaign.
All proceeds of the song will go towards The Diana Award, the UK’s only charity in memory of the late princess, and now supported by both the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex.
The record was produced by husband and wife music duo Joe and Nikki Davison, who work for their south west London production studio Auburn Jam Music.
Nikki said: “The response has been amazing.
“Loads of people have really identified with the story I think.
Speaking about the video Nikki said: “The aim is to show to people that you’re not alone.
“As Charlie would say ‘it’s better to talk about these things then to keep them bottled up.’”
Joe added: “If you reach out to the world you will find that there are people waiting to comfort you and to listen.”
The release, coinciding with anti-bullying week, shares the story of Charlie Kristensen who having experienced bullying and name calling at school, successfully launched CheerUpCharlie to reach out to those with similar experiences.
His campaign grabbed the attention of many stars from hit West End shows such as Mary Poppins, The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked and Sunset Boulevard.
Producers Joe and Nikki both explained how they approached Charlie’s performance coach Jacqueline Hughes to make the recording.
Nikki said: “He was inundated with messages from people in the industry, from the West End, from Broadway, so I thought shall I ask if he has ever been to a recording studio before.
“She asked any of those that got in touch with the lovely messages would like to record with him, and they were queuing up to do so.”
Joe added: “So many of the messages for him were people saying ‘I was bullied when I was growing up.’
The couple both acknowledged that their own experiences of bullying during their school years encouraged them to get involved in the project.
The charity release has now been featured both in the UK, on the BBC and and across the pond on CBC, as well as on YouTube.
It also reached a peak of 53 on the iTunes singles charts.
There have even been stories of teachers using the song in schools to spread the message against bullying.
Charlie has now been trained as an Ambassador for the charity and even hosts his own weekly online chat show, Musical Chairs.
He said: “It is an amazing feeling to have a single released and especially one that is so spectacular and sincere.
“I want to help people understand life isn’t perfect, we aren’t perfect but we are amazing just the way we are.”
A tie in video has also been released featuring messages from many of Charlie’s West End supporters, including Hannah Waddingham, Michael Ball and Danny Hatchard.
