A group of mortgage industry lenders and brokers have come together to write and record a charity single in time for Christmas to highlight increasing homelessness in the UK, raising money for Mortgage Sleep Out.
The song, “Take Me Home” has been produced by Landbay managing director of intermediaries Paul Brett and Coreco brand director Andrew Montlake and is about being homeless at Christmas, delivered in a way that conveys hope and optimism for the future.
Performing under the name MIC (Mortgage Industry Collective), which includes Brett, Montlake and Kit Thompson from Brightstar, Howard Levy from SPF and Andy Rowe from Computershare, the band is looking for singers in the industry to attend the recording session.
Montlake said: “Paul and I first started to discuss the idea of a song a couple of years ago as we knew there were so many talented people in our industry who could contribute to such a project.
“We both wanted to do something that would show the public what the mortgage industry was all about. We spend our lives trying to help people to own and protect their own homes, but we are also all too aware of the growing issue of homelessness in the UK.
“I initially wrote the lyrics on a late journey home one evening and tried to imagine what someone without a home would be feeling at this time of year. It’s about the thin line of life events that could see any one of us end up in such a position and how we need to all work together to help and change the reality of life on the streets.
“Paul has done a fantastic job with the music and after experimenting with several genres, the version we have now conveys the positive and uplifting feeling we wanted to achieve. We now want to get as many industry people as possible to help sing on the track.”
Paul Brett added: “During my many years in the mortgage industry, I have been privileged to meet some incredibly talented people and not just from a business point of view, there are incredible musicians and artists working in our fantastic industry across the UK and we want to bring as many of those as we can together, to showcase what we can do and help the fund raising effort that has been started by Mortgage Sleep Out.
“Come along and be part of the choir, and record with a legendary record producer. See you on the 1 and 2 of December!”
The single will be recorded at a Band Aid style event on 1 and 2 December at producer Benny Di Massa’s famous Powerstudio in London.
Benny Di Massa has worked with a host of top names including Stormzy, Boy George, Kylie, Plan B, Robbie Williams, Paloma Faith and Depeche Mode.
The project has also had assistance from musical director Jenny Deacon who has worked with choirs at The Royal Albert Hall, The O2 and Wembley Arena.
The single will help to raise money for Mortgage Sleep Out, which will see more than 1,000 people from the industry sleep outside for a night on 30 November at different locations across the country to raise money for the national charity, End Youth Homelessness (EYH).
Rob Jupp, chief executive at Brightstar, said: “The idea of Mortgage Sleep Out started in August, when I tweeted about the shocking number of ‘rough sleepers’ on the streets of London.
“Maria Harris, director of intermediary lending at Atom Bank, replied to the tweet and suggested we do a financial services sleep out to raise funds and awareness.
“We now have more than 1000 people taking part and this charity single is a fantastic initiative that will really help to boost fundraising.”
