LADBABY SINGLE “FOOD AID’’ FEATURING MARTIN LEWIS AND THE BAND AID ALL-STARS

Chart topping social media stars and charity campaigners LadBaby aka Mark and Roxanne Hoyle are set to make history becoming the first ever act to be allowed to rework the iconic Band Aid song ‘Do They Know it’s Christmas’. The track ‘Food Aid’ is available to download now.

It wouldn’t be Christmas without LadBaby. Mark & Roxanne Hoyle have conquered the charts for three years in a row, shooting straight to #1 with ‘We Built This City on Sausage Rolls’ (2018) , ‘I Love Sausage Rolls’ (2019) and Don’t Stop Me Eatin’ (2020) and ‘Sausage Rolls for Everyone’ ft Ed Sheerand And Elton John (2022)

Today they release ‘Food Aid’, a rework of the iconic Band Aid song ‘Do They Know it’s Christmas’ featuring money saving expert Martin Lewis.

100% of profits from the song will be donated towards the fight against hunger and poverty. 50% will go to the Trussell Trust and 50% will be donated to the Band Aid Trust.

The track was rewritten with kind permission from Bob Geldof, Midge Ure and the Band Aid Trust. To rework the track, Mark and Roxanne teamed up with Grammy winner Amy Wadge, one of the UK’s most prolific contemporary songwriters, known for her long established writing partnership with Ed Sheeran and this year’s UK Eurovision entry, to rewrite the festive song with a touch of the tongue-in- cheek humour that LadBaby are renowned for.

‘Food Aid’ is a slightly more tempo parody of the original which has a serious message but retains all the fun you would expect for a LadBaby track. The lyrics reflect the cost of living crisis that is affecting the UK. Reflecting the mood of the nation, the track opens with “ It’s Christmas time , let’s come together for Food Aid, This Christmas Time, The nations skint and they’re under paid” continuing with ” There won’t be food for everyone This Christmas time, For many there’ll be hungry Through the night , When there’s nowhere else to go, When the lecky’s running low Do they know it’s Christmas time at all ?”

The song is released alongside a hilarious, feel-good video which unveils the Band Aid all-stars. Mark is seen ushering Rox into a music studio for the big reveal. Instead of mega-A list musicians, Mark instead presents Rox with a group of look-alikes including Stormzy, Will.Am, Boy George, Adele, Kylie, Robbie Williams, The Gallagher Brothers, Paul McCartney and of course Ed and Elton. ‘Don’t worry’, Mark tells Rox, I’ve got Lewis… ‘Lewis Capaldi’, she asks? ‘No, Martin Lewis’, he responds. The video replicates the Band Aid video but with extra humour added in. Boy George can be seen helping Noel and Liam reconcile after a fight, Adele can be seen reaching for the wine, whilst Robbie pines over a Gary Barlow image.

Mark and Rox said, “In a year when people are struggling more than ever we felt it was time to keep both the lyrics and the guest-stars authentic and real. It just didn’t feel right roping in lots of megastars to sing about a cost of living crisis. It’s been loads of fun to get everyone guessing who we’ve had on the song. We hope the real stars now get involved and get behind the track.

But behind the hilarity, the reason for making the track is to raise as much money as we possibly can for the Trussell Trust and the Band Aid Trust. We HAVE to do whatever it takes to build a future where all of us can afford to go to sleep with a full stomach.”

Martin Lewis says, “When Mark and Roxanne contacted me out-of-the-blue to ask if I’d join them in Food Aid I thought they’d confused me with someone else. The nearest I’ve ever got to thinking about a Christmas number one is going to the loo on Boxing Day after too much orange juice the day before. Yet once I knew they were serious, and it was for the Trussell Trust, a hugely important charity I’ve a history with, I decided to give it a go, and do it with gusto.”

“This has been a tough year for many, prices have rocketed. Advice charities and food banks are swamped. Deficit budgeting is becoming more common – meaning even after everything has been cut to the bone – people still have less income than expenditure. It’s going to be a tough winter, and things aren’t likely to ease much in 2023. So the need to help and support people struggling across the UK is profound. Hopefully this Ladbaby song and their lyrics will raise some cash and awareness.”

Emma Revie, CEO of the Trussell Trust said:
“We are so grateful to LadBaby for their incredible support for a fifth year running. Between April and September this year, food banks in the Trussell Trust network provided 1.3 million emergency food parcels to people facing hardship. Soaring food and fuel costs are affecting us all, but for families on the very lowest incomes this crisis means so much more and more people are likely to need a food bank’s help. Food bank teams are working tirelessly to ensure help continues to be available. But ultimately, no one in the UK should need a food bank – all of us should have enough money for the essentials like food, clothing and heating. The support of LadBaby and the Band Aid trust will help food banks within our network continue to provide the lifeline of emergency support for local people in crisis, while we work in the long term to end the need for food banks, for good. Thank you so much”

The Hoyle’s are keen to use their social media platforms of over 13 million followers for good, especially when so many families across the nation are struggling. Mark and Roxanne will support the Trussell Trust with both fundraising and awareness campaigns. Through their Christmas chart topping endeavours where they’ve donated 100% of the songs profits and branded partnerships, the couple have already raised over £1.2 million for the Trussell Trust through their charity singles and brand partnerships, but as the cost of living crisis gets worse they are committed to do even more to help.

Now, more than ever, food banks in the Trussell Trust’s network need vital funds to support people struggling to afford the essentials. Figures released by the charity just a few weeks ago revealed that food banks in its network across the UK provided around five emergency food parcels a minute as families struggled to afford to feed themselves.

More emergency food parcels were given out during the April to September 2022 period than ever before for this time of year. Over the last six months, more than 320,000 people have been forced to turn to food banks in the Trussell Trust network for the first time.

For the first time, the need for emergency food is outstripping donations as the cost of living emergency is leading to a drastic increase in the number of people turning to food banks for support.

New figures from the Trussell Trust show more emergency food parcels were given out during the April to September period than ever before. Food banks in the Trussell Trust’s UK-wide network distributed 1.3 million food parcels to people facing hardship – this is an increase of 52% compared to the same period in 2019. Half a million of these parcels were distributed to children. One in five people referred to food banks in the Trussell Trust network are in working households.

LadBaby have surpassed the Beatles and the Spice Girls as the act with the most consecutive Christmas number ones in a row. The duo first topped the chart in 2018 with We Built This City, a cover of Starship’s 1985 hit; followed by I Love Sausage Rolls, their take on The Arrows / Joan Jett’s I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll; Don’t Stop Me Eatin’, a cheeky version of Journey’s beloved power ballad and last year topped the chart with ‘Sausage Rolls For Everyone’, the duo’s collaboration with Ed Sheeran and Sir Elton John.