Students and staff from Oldham College are dreaming of following in the footsteps of Slade, Band Aid and the Spice Girls by achieving the coveted Christmas Number One spot.
Under the name The OC, a group from the college have released a Christmas single - Christmas With You - and are donating all proceeds from downloads to the Stop the Traffik charity, which tackles human trafficking.
College students and staff feature heavily on the single and in the music video - and are joined by members of the local community, including the mayor of Oldham, Ginny Alexander, and Oldham’s youth mayor Samah Khalil, as well as brass musicians from the Oldham Band (Lees).
Alun Francis, principal of Oldham College, said: “This is a fantastic project bringing so many different people and groups together for an important cause.
Oldham College’s Christmas single
“One of Oldham College’s biggest assets is the diversity of our campus life, which reflect the borough’s communities. We wanted to get everyone involved in doing something upbeat and original - and something positive that celebrates the best things about the festive period: like our connectedness and the spirit of selflessness in thinking about others.”
Lizzy Jewell, head of strategic communications at Stop the Traffik, said: “We’re delighted to see the launch of Christmas With You after several months of incredible hard work.
“We‘ve been blown away by the commitment shown to this project by the fantastic communities of Oldham and we were very excited to see the final version.
“We hope people enjoy this song and also take note of the very important messages it supports about human trafficking. We want more people to be aware of it, vigilant and able to spot the signs, and to report it.”
Christmas With You is available to download from major online outlets.
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