The County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (CDDFT) Choir was formed during lockdown with the aim of supporting staff’s mental health, and together with local music producer Gary Riley from Junesounds, has released the single, ‘Here for you’ which focuses on how NHS staff at all levels care for patients.
Pat Chambers, charity development manager at CDDFT Charity said: “The song is really heartwarming, and a line that stood out to me in particular was ‘we hold your hand, when no-one can’ – we saw this more than ever during the pandemic when patients couldn’t have visitors and staff were filling the role of friends and family in addition to medical care.
“We want to recognize the contributions made by all NHS staff, including those ‘unseen’ roles such as porters, domestics, catering and cleaning teams – without whom, medical staff could not help patients.
“NHS funding provides items critical to patient care - as a charity, we support patient care by fundraising to provide items like visitor chairs, ward TVs, toys and activity packs for children, toiletries and medical equipment that wouldn’t be available to the NHS without charity funding and the funds raised through this single will continue that work.”
The single is available on all streaming platforms and a video showcasing hospital staff across our region will be released shortly, created by Darlington firm, Rob Cam Productions.