Songwriter raises £25,000 for charity

Brett McMann (left) and Neil Fitzpatrick: raised £25,000 for Cancer Research UK in less than 18 months

A musician who wrote a song in memory of loved ones he lost to cancer, reaches his laudable fundraising target

Scarborough musician, Neil Fitzpatrick, who wrote a song in memory of several loved ones he has lost to cancer, has reached his fundraising target of £25,000 for Cancer Research UK in less than 18 months. Fitzpatrick composed the song Apart in 2008 after witnessing a friend’s battle with terminal bowel cancer, aged just 40 years old. Losing his friend, his mother-in-law, and then his father to the illness in the three years that followed, prompted him to take decisive action.

With the help of almost 100 people, Fitzpatrick released the song in June 2014, produced 5000 CD copies and raised more than £13,000 in the 12 months that followed. “Raising all that money in a relatively short space of time is wonderful,” he explained, “but I got to the point where I was really struggling to shift the CDs and my ideas were running dry.”

Then his close friend and neighbour Brett McMann suggested hosting a charity ball to raise more funds with the song, and so the pair organised the first Apart black tie ball at Scarborough’s The Crown Spa Hotel. Taking place on Friday 2 October, the event raised more than £12,000, bringing the overall total raised by the Apart project to £25,000.

The song, which won the 2014 UK Songwriting Contest is available to buy for £5 with all proceeds going to Cancer Research UK. To buy a copy of the song, or simply make a donation, visit apartsong.co.uk or facebook.com/apartsong, or text APAR50 £1 (or £2, £3, £4, £5, £10) to 70070.

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