Look To The Stars News: Sharleen Spiteri

Billy Boyd Performs At Charity Awards

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:30:00 -0000

Lord of the Rings actor Billy Boyd appeared at a charity music awards ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland, during the weekend to raise money for Nordoff-Robbins.

The star performed with his band, Beecake, and accepted a People’s Choice Best Live Act award at the Tartan Clef Awards. Beecake also received the most votes from fans in an online poll organized by tourist organization Visit Scotland.

The event raised £100,000 (US$200,000) to help fund music therapy in Scotland.

“It’s my view that the Tartan Clefs will soon become as important to the UK music industry as the Brits or NME Awards,“ said Nordoff-Robbins Scotland chairman Donald MacLeod. “The funds and recognition the event raises is invaluable and helps guarantee music therapy for all those who benefit from it.”

The other big winner on the night was Scottish singer Sharleen Spiteri, who won an Outstanding Contribution to Music Award. Spiteri – the lead singer for rock band Texas – recently performed for autistic children at a school in Scotland, and also took part in the Children in Need concert in London.

“Nordoff-Robbins does some wonderful things for people who have to contend with all manner of disabilities,” said Sandi Thom, who was a past winner at the Tartan Clefs.

Children In Need Concert Makes History

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

British broadcasters Terry Wogan, Tess Daly, and Fearne Cotton hosted the annual BBC Children in Need charity concert on Friday, November 14.

The epic seven hour show featured performances from the Sugababes, Boyzone, Leon Jackson, McFly, the Stereophonics, John Barrowman, Il Divo, Jason Donovan Russell Watson, Alesha Dixon, Razorlight, Sharleen Spiteri and many others. Girls Aloud also made a special appearance, and there were surprise contributions from Ozzy Osbourne, Jack Black, Will Young, Richard Hammond, and Stevie Wonder. Take That donated £250,000 from their ticket sales and a recent Marks and Spencer modeling deal.

But perhaps the funniest highlights of the night came from a performance of Abba hits from six BBC newsreaders. The cast of Eastenders also took to the stage for a song and dance.

A total of £20,991,216 had been raised at the end of the broadcast making it likely that donations could be higher than last year’s total of £37 million.

“I am completely overwhelmed by the way the country has come together in support of BBC Children in Need, demonstrating such generosity in these tough times, and I’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone involved,“ said David Ramsden, BBC Children in Need chief executive. “We can now focus our attention on finding more great projects that can change young lives for the better.”

Sharleen Spiteri Gigs With Autistic Children

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Scottish singer Sharleen Spiteri lent her support to Nordoff-Robbins last week when she visited a school that integrates children with autism into classes and provides music therapy as part of their lessons.

The 41-year-old lead singer of Texas played a few tunes for children at Hopefield Primary in Bonnyrigg, Scotland, to raise awareness of music therapy in schools.

“It was great to do a song with the kids playing along on their drums, shakers and bells,“ Spiteri told the Sunday Mail in the UK. “It ended up being a lot easier than some big gigs I’ve done where thousands of fans clap along out of time. That’s an absolute nightmare. Playing to a bunch of kids who were totally into the music was both satisfying and very humbling. But that’s the power of music. I was a total stranger but music brought us together.

“It was interesting to discover how so much of the touchy-feely element of music – the vibrations of hitting a drum or holding an instrument against the skin – meant to the children. That’s what we do as musicians… we go on constantly about feel and rhythm. It was extraordinary to see it actually work for them and hear from their parents how much of a difference music makes to their lives.”

The singer also took part in the BBC Children in Need charity concert on Friday, November 14, which also featured the Sugababes, Boyzone, and many others.

Handbag.com Launches Handbag Amnesty

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:30:00 -0000

www.handbag.com and Cancer Research UK have announced a new partnership with the launch of the first ever Handbag Amnesty.

Taking place throughout the month of September – www.handbag.com’s dedicated handbag month – and climaxing in October, the Handbag Amnesty will give women across the country the opportunity to bid for the designer handbag of their favourite celebrity including, just to name a few, Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller and Dame Shirley Bassey, to raise money to help beat cancer.

www.handbag.com and Cancer Research UK are asking celebrities to make space in their wardrobes by donating one of their designer handbags to the Amnesty. The bags will then be auctioned on eBay from Friday 3rd – Sunday 14th October to tie in with Breast Cancer Awareness month. Open to everyone, all proceeds will go to Cancer Research UK, the largest single funder of research into breast cancer, one of the most common cancers in the UK.

Some of the other celebrities who have donated handbags are America Ferrera, Annie Lennox, Ashlee Simpson, Geri Halliwell, Dame Judi Dench, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Scarlett Johansson.

The Handbag Amnesty, however, is not just about celebrities. www.handbag.com and Cancer Research UK are also asking members of the public to donate a handbag that is still in good condition to their local Cancer Research UK shop. Good handbags always sell like hot cakes in Cancer Research UK’s nationwide chain of charity shops.

Claire Higgins, Head of Marketing at www.handbag.com, says: “As the leading lifestyle website for women in the UK, we are in the unique position of being able to reach more than 1.5 million women across the country. 44,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed every year in the UK so we are very proud to be working with Cancer Research UK to help make a difference – not only by raising a lot of money to fund research into preventing breast cancer, but also by helping to raise much needed awareness of the illness.”

Paul Farthing, Director of High Value Relationships at Cancer Research UK, says: “We’re delighted to be working with www.handbag.com to launch Handbag Amnesty. The auction of celebrity handbags will be an exciting way to raise funds for our vital research into breast cancer. We also hope that by encouraging supporters to donate their own favourite handbag, and other unwanted quality items to our shops, we will be able to raise even more to help beat cancer.”

For more information and a full list of celebrities taking part, please visit www.handbag.com/amnesty

Texas Helps Children In Scotland

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Scottish singer and founder of the band Texas, Sharleen Spiteri, stepped out for children with cancer in Edinburgh last week.

The 40-year-old singer, whose hits include I Don’t Need A Lover and Once In A Lifetime, visited the youngsters at a hospice in the Scottish capital as part of her support of CLIC Sargent, an organization that provides accommodation for the families of young children who get cancer, giving them and their families a long-term base close to the specialist treatment unit at the Sick Kids Hospital.

“As a mother, it means so much to me to be involved with CLIC Sargent, and I have seen for myself the fantastic work they do for children with cancer and their families in Scotland,” said the singer, who is also the patron of the charity. “I cannot imagine how devastating it must be to be told your child has cancer, and this charity is a real lifeline.”

It's A Long Way Down For Charity

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:09:46 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

What was quite possibly the party of the year was held in London on November 8, in celebration of the adventure of a lifetime.

The Long Way Down charity dinner and auction was held to mark the successful completion of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s 15,000 mile motorcycle ride from the most northern point in Scotland to the most southern point of South Africa, an adventure that is now the subject of a television series being shown on BBC2 on Sunday nights, and an action-packed book. A host of celebrities, including Elle Macpherson, James Nesbitt, and Scottish singer Sharleen Spiteri dusted off their best clothes for the event, which included performances by The Magic Numbers and Beth Orton.

The evening raised over $621,000 for the Long Way Down team’s charity partners, including Riders For Health, an organization that has worked for over 15 years to develop delivery systems for healthcare in Africa, as well as CHAS, a Scottish charity committed to providing children’s hospice services, and UNICEF.

“I’ve been involved with CHAS for many years,” said McGregor during the auction event. “It’s the most extraordinary place. 20% of the money raised tonight will go to CHAS, to help the children. They will be very grateful, as will I.”

The top selling item of the evening was a replica of the BMW R1200 motorcycle the pair rode during their journey. The bike, which was painted half in McGregor’s color scheme and half in Boorman’s, sold for an unbelievable $103,000. This was followed by one of the Nissan Nivara support vehicles that completed the trip, which was snapped up for $87,000. Other items included an African holiday for four people which reached $27,000, and a one-of-a-kind Gary Hutchins Edbanger guitar, sold for $18,000. In fact, the guitar proved to be so popular that the company that produced it agreed to make two more, both of which reached the same price.

Several celebrities also donated their own items to the auction, including Jay Kay from British pop group Jamiroquai, whose mountain bike fetched $12,000, slightly more than his personal hovercraft, which reached $10,000. Actor Simon Pegg sold the Nike shoes he wore in his latest movie, “Run Fat Boy Run”, for $3000.

The Long Way Down team is committed to raising as much money as possible for children affected by HIV, poverty, and conflict in Africa, and visited several sites in Libya, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Rwanda where UNICEF works during the adventure. Both McGregor and Boorman hope that the auction will go a long way in achieving that goal.

“We have started a partnership with UNICEF that will continue for a long long time,” said McGregor, who paid $20,000 for six fashion dresses for his wife during the auction. “The people that we met who work for UNICEF, and the children they help, really touched us to our core. I have often thought that where I would say ‘I don’t know what we can do’, UNICEF says ‘Here’s what we can do’.”

More information on the epic journey can be found at www.longwaydown.com.

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