Charity song set to raise funds and awareness of loss An award-winning singer songwriter from Coventry has released a new single to raise funds and awareness for three local charities close to her heart. My Darling is the exclusive new track, written and recorded by MOBO-nominated musician Sandra Godley, in aid of Surviving Bereavement, Molly Olly’s Wishes and Coventry and Warwickshire Mind. In collaboration with Surviving Bereavement founder, Tracey McAtamney, the project draws much-needed focus on the increasing mental health problems posed by COVID-19 in the wake of the pandemic. It is a particularly poignant piece of work for Bristol-born musician and BBC CWR host, Sandra, who is still grieving the loss of her own aunt to the virus in April last year. She said: “This track is based on conversations that I’d had with people like Tracey and others, who survived having lost people and having had a year out to think about that.
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Sandra Godley
“Because I work in broadcasting, people are telling me their stories of loss, grief and anguish all the time. I got to the point where I thought, ‘What do I do with all this?’ This is a real situation, and I need to help as many people as I can. “I wrote the lyrics for this, hoping it would offer some kind of comfort and a way of journeying these next few months and years. What I’ve found is that a lot of people haven’t been able to talk about it, because they haven’t been able to physically go and see someone in the family during the grieving process.” With four successful albums and a clutch of awards to her name, Sandra’s proudest musical career highlights include singing in the House of Commons, as well as creating and performing The Big Love
Song as a wedding gift for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, joined by a choir of mental health ambassadors on BBC’s The One Show, in 2018. My Darling marks a departure from Sandra’s usual soul and gospel style, instead following more contemporary musical influences to appeal to a wider audience impacted by COVID or other related losses. “I wanted this to be more modern in terms of the Billie Eilish, James Arthur and George Ezra-type sound. I was actually influenced by a lot younger artists for this song, when I usually tend to look backwards in time for a lot of my music. Most young people won’t have previously experienced the kind of trauma of the last 18 months, and I thought these artists were writing some really inspirational stuff for this ‘now’ moment,” she said. Through the work of the Surviving Bereavement Foundation, Tracey McAtamney has helped many others through their journey with grief by offering legal and financial advice, as well as practical and emotional support. Tracey, from Balsall Common, established the Foundation 16 years after being widowed with two sons at the age of just 38. Her husband Tony had died suddenly in his hotel room while on a golfing holiday in Spain. As part of the Foundation’s growth, she also recently qualified as a Grief Recovery Specialist, using an actioned, evidencedbased programme for moving beyond death, divorce and other losses, including health and career.
