A CORNISH school's charity pop video has proved a surprise worldwide YouTube hit with more than 12,000 views – and counting.
The cover of chart hit Some Nights by The Roseland Community College choir has raised more than £1,500 for Children in Need (CiN) since it was uploaded to the global video channel on November 16.
The seven-minute version of the song by Fun features student soloists, the school rock band, the Roseland Voices choir, staff choir, jazz band, staff and student steel bands, samba band as well as many students and staff involved 'behind the scenes'.
Pete Appleyard, media, audio and visual technician at the specialist music college, masterminded the project. He said: "It started off last year when we did one for Children in Need that was a really last-minute thing and people enjoyed it. This year we thought we would do the same thing, but started in mid-September."
Involving about 450 students and most of the staff, Mr Appleyard managed to get Radio 2 DJ Simon Mayo to come to the school to record an introduction, alongside the BBC's CiN mascot Pudsey Bear, who appears in the video for the song, posing as the head teacher. Head Neil Wilkinson-McKie even appears briefly to scold – and dance with – the big yellow bear.
Soloist Georgia Bennet, 14, a member of The Roseland Voices choir and singing leader for the school, said: "It was really fun to do, it made the school feel so much closer and makes us feel we are doing something good together for charity."
Fellow soloist Jack Retallack, 13, added: "It was really good fun. We tried to get as many people involved as possible and was really nice to do together."
Donations are being requested to CiN via justgiving on the site, and are still coming in as more people view the video. So far it has gained more than 100 'likes' on the site, with dozens of positive comments posted, including from abroad.
"We can't sell it as we would need to sort out royalties – but we might make it available as a free download so people can listen to it as much as they like," said Mr Appleyard.
