St Paul's Choristers lend their voices to charity Christmas single

The Choristers of St Paul's are set to hit the Christmas charts as part of an East London charity project which brings together diverse communities.

Holding out a helping hand is a single being released by the Cantignorus Chorus, a pop-up community choir of over 120 children and adults from the congregation of St Paul’s church in West Hackney.

BUY HOLDING OUT A HELPING HAND ON iTUNES

The choir of homeless men and women, vulnerable young women, recovering drug addicts,  elderly, isolated and lonely individuals and residents of the parish, was formed with the aim of bringing the diverse local community of West Hackney together though music.

The Choristers of St Paul's were invited to add descant vocals to the single, which also features The Right Reverend Adrian Newman, Bishop of Stepney and poet and comedian John Hegley.

The Cantignorus Chorus is the flagship project of SingSpire, an innovative music programme run by the Contextual Theology Centre, which helps churches to bring people together through song.

As well as the individual singers, the choir brings together charities and organisations based at St Paul’s Church Hall, including North London Action for the Homeless, Narcotics Anonymous, the Open Doors charity for vulnerable women, the 4Sight lunch club for local African Caribbean men and women with mental health issues, an over-50s dance group, Family Mosaic Housing Association and the Growing Communities grassroots gardening project.

The single, written by The Reverend Niall Weir, Rector of St Paul’s West Hackney and directed by Tom Daggett of SingSpire, is now available to buy through various online stores, including iTunes. Any money raised from the song will go directly to those charities and organisations represented in the chorus.

The innovative project is a living example of the ethos of Capital Vision 2020 - the Diocese of London's vision for the next seven years - which commits the Diocese to serve the capital ways that are confident, compassionate and creative.