8-Year Old Elle Hits All the Right Notes with Christmas Single to Support Homeless People
Eight year old Elle has already captured hearts around the country with her dedication to helping the homeless in her hometown of Southampton, but this Christmas she has gone one step further, releasing a single to not only raise awareness of the issue but also to help raise funds for SHELTER.
It’s called It’s Christmas and a percentage of all money raised from downloads and views of the accompanying video will go directly to the charity, helping homeless people across the UK at a time when not only Christmas but also lockdown exacerbates their plight. With the homeless now more desperate than ever for support, Elle is asking the great British public to think about people less fortunate than themselves and to listen to her song.
Watch Elle’s Video and Support Shelter here: https://vimeo.com/478002727/ba65d8ad20
Feeding the homeless all started for Elle after seeing a man sleeping rough when she was seven years old. Elle was determined to do what she could to help. From telling her mum and dad she wanted to find that man and give him some of her left-over birthday cake, she soon found out there was more than one person sleeping rough and there weren’t enough slices of cake to go around.
Since that day, almost every Sunday Elle has gone out with her mum in all weathers around the streets of Southampton to share sandwiches, cake and fruit with those sleeping rough on the streets, talking with them and letting them know that they weren’t forgotten.
Elle has also helped with a large clothing collection at her school and managed to donate coats, socks, toiletries and sleeping bags to the homeless on the streets during the cold winter months last year.
These acts of kindness did not go unnoticed, both receiving the gratitude of those she has helped, including an ex-Army soldier ‘Pat’ who was living on the streets. Elle was nominated for a local award for her efforts and rewarded with the Young Achiever Award at the BBC Radio Solent Community Hero Awards in 2020.
See Elle Helping the Homeless, Pre-COVID Restrictions: https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2019-08-12/young-girl-s-dream-to-feed-the-homeless-one-bread-roll-at-a-time
On hearing of Elle’s kindness, her hairdresser, Saab Vancootan, also a songwriter, was keen to help too. Saab asked Elle if she’d liked to use a song she had written about her own family’s hardships at Christmas. Having seen her family save desperately over the course of 12 months to give her a Christmas like her schoolfriends when Saab was younger, one of the key lines: “All the money is under the tree” suddenly resonated even more and the song, It’s Christmas, is dedicated to all those who are less fortunate. Both raising vital funds and raising awareness for the amazing work SHELTER do year-round, Elle is a shining example of how we can all do something to help others, especially at this most unusual Christmas time.
Elle said: “I just hope this song makes people think about homeless people this Christmas. It must be horrible to live on the streets and I just want to try and help them more if I can. Thank you to everyone who supports this fundraising campaign.”
A spokesperson from Shelter said: “It’s amazing an eight-year old is thinking about people less fortunate than themselves. We are delighted Elle wants to work with Shelter on this fantastic Christmas fundraising song.”