Ave To Love
A young singer’s haunting personal memories of the hardship of Haiti have inspired her to release a record to raise money for the island’s beleaguered children.
Philippa Hanna visited Haiti several weeks before the earthquake which killed 200,000 people and left over a million homeless. Her tour of orphanages and schools left a huge mental scar and a determination that something had to be done to ease their abject poverty.
Now, in the wake of one of the world’s worst natural disasters, with people living without shelter in torrential seasonal rains, she is releasing her song, Ave To Love to raise money specifically for the children of Haiti.
She has teamed up with Grammy award-winning record producer Eliot Kennedy who co-wrote and mixed the song which is being released on March 7th.
Philippa, 25, said: “It broke my heart seeing the living conditions in Haiti and that was before the earthquake. They had next to nothing and next to no-one, even then. I felt I had to do something to help and producing this song will raise much-needed funds. Every penny is vital,” says Philippa.
Eliot Kennedy, the mixing genius behind many hits by Take That and the Spice Girls, says: “This is a fabulous song and Philly is a special singer. I believe the song has global appeal.”
The song conveys a message of hope against the backdrop of desperation. It has already been received with rapturous applause by audiences on Philippa’s concert tour of the UK 20 venues.
The video features newsreel of the disaster and footage of Philippa performing and meeting and working with Haiti children as part of her role as an ambassador for the international children’s charity Compassion.
Everyone involved in the production of the record and video either live or work in the city of Sheffield.
The video has been directed by filmmaker Alan Hurndall of Gumtree Media Ltd, and edited by Rolande Hall.
