A RECORD label is donating all proceeds of its Christmas album to a charity which supports families affected by a rare and sometimes fatal condition.
Olive Grove Records, a boutique label based in Glasgow, is giving all the cash made From Olive Us To Olive You, a collection of exclusively-recorded festive songs from artists on its roster, to CDH UK.
The charity advises parents of babies born with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), a condition which the NHS says affects one in 2000 births.
The defect causes a hole in the infant’s diaphragm, the muscle separating the chest from the abdomen.
“This results in the intestines and sometimes the stomach entering the chest cavity, preventing lung growth,” says Lloyd Meredith. He runs the Olive Grove roster which features Randolph’s Leap, State Broadcasters, Jo Mango and Carla J Easton, who also plays in popular girl group TeenCanteen.
Meredith, who set up the label with fellow music blogger Halina Rifai in 2010, says his son Luke was born with CDH three years ago this month, and that donating the money made from the album is very important to him.
“It means a lot to me to be able to give something back to families who might not have been as lucky as ours,” he says. “Almost three years ago to the day my son, Luke, was born with CDH. It’s a really scary and horrible condition. We are very lucky in that Luke is doing incredibly well.” Meredith thanked all the artists and production team who made From Olive Us To Olive Us happen in such a short space of time and said the collection is “a Christmas charity album with a difference”.
Available now via www.facebook.com/olivegroverecords, it includes Easton duetting with The Vaselines’ Eugene Kelly on “soon-to-be Christmas pop classic” When It’s Starting To Snow (Please Be Mine) and Half The Presents, Olive Grove’s first release by new boy-girl duo Pocket Knife.
“It’s a helluva catchy wee number about Jesus living up to the stereotypes of being a Capricorn,” says Meredith. “It really is as good as it sounds. There is something for everyone on this Christmas album.”
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