New song celebrates fifty years of Christingle events and will help support neglected young people in the UK.

The Children’s Society has created an original song for schoolchildren, congregations or community choirs to include in their Christingle services and it also features in a special advent episode of Songs of Praise on BBC One on 2nd December at 1.15pm.

The song, ‘Light a Candle’, has been composed exclusively for The Children’s Society by Louise Drewett, a young composer currently studying at the Royal Academy of Music, and the words have been specially written by poet Clare Shaw.

The song is available to download and listen to or learn for free from The Children’s Society website.

Poet Clare Shaw says:

Having come through abuse and familial estrangement myself, I know that music and poetry can be a transformative experience for young people.

Louise and I wrote this piece to be accessible to everyone but I hope that for some it will speak at a deeper level and that lines like ‘no child should feel alone’ will have a resonance.

The Children’s Society really understands how difficult life can be for some children.

Composer Louise Drewett added:

I work regularly with community choirs and I believe singing can be a powerful way to bring people together and to express an important message, so I was delighted to be able to write a song for this special occasion.

With this song, we’re encouraging people all over the country to raise their voices in support of young people.

The Children’s Society reports that 200,000 10 to 17 year olds in the UK are experiencing emotional neglect on a regular basis, unable to turn to their parents if they had a problem or were upset. Some children facing emotional neglect are also struggling with other difficulties at home that create far from a picture of a happy Christmas.

For more information, visit www.christingle.org.