Hark! The actual ‘Herald angels are singing

A GROUP of journalists have swapped their notebooks for instruments this month and recorded a Christmas charity single.

Off The Record, a four-piece band who work at the Ulster Herald in Omagh, are aiming to raise as much money as possible for two mental health charities, Zest and support2gether.

After much deliberation on what track they should record, it was finally agreed that there could be only one: The recently-formed, ‘Herald group would record an up-tempo version of the classic, ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing’ which will get its first air-play on the Hugo Duncan show tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon.

Healing the Hurt of self harm and suicide, Zest is an organisation offering supportive care to people suffering emotional pain and hurt.

Support2gether is a local charity who supports families who are living with a Perinatal mental illness such as antenatal/postnatal depression and anxiety.

Speaking this week, ‘Herald editor and rhythm guitarist in Off The Record, Nigel McDonagh said the idea was to try and bring 2020 to a close on an optimistic note as well as doing something positive to benefit the charities.

“It’s been such a challenging year for so many people, we wanted to do something that could raise some funds for local groups that need it and also, put a smile on people’s faces,” he said. “If we can do those two things, it’ll be a job well done.”

As well as the new single, the group – Victoria Housden and Darren Pritchard on vocals and Michael Devlin also on rhythm guitar – have shot a new video, one which also features the Man in Red himself and which is set to be released later this week.

The video will also feature contributions from the local community as well as key workers from the health service.

“We have so many charities who do amazing work in the local community,” Nigel continued. “However, mental health is always an important issue, especially given the year we’ve just had.

“Hopefully we can raise as much money as we can for Zest and support2gether, which both do vital work in the community,” he added.

“And hopefully people will enjoy the song and the video. We had great fun recording both and who knows, this might even be the start of an exciting musical journey for Off The Record!”

Keep your eyes and ears peeled for the first plays of Off The Record’s single and music video later this week. Be sure to keep an eye on the Ulster Herald’s Facebook page where we’ll have some fundraising giveaways over the next couple of weeks too.