When multi-Platinum singer-songwriter James Blunt plays to his audience at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena, on Friday 21 February, he will be doing more than making great music.
The former British Army Officer will also be fundraising for Help for Heroes, a cause close to his heart, with volunteers from the charity collecting donations from the generous concertgoers attending his international Once Upon A Mind tour.
The funds raised at the concerts will add to the money that the chart-topping superstar has also pledged to Help for Heroes from the proceeds of his heart-breaking ballad, Monsters. Working with Welsh songwriter Amy Wadge, Blunt wrote the song as a tribute to his father who has been diagnosed with stage four chronic kidney disease and urgently needs an O positive kidney donor.
Blunt’s family has a long lineage of military service. His father was a Cavalry Officer and a Colonel of the Army Air Corps, while Blunt himself served in the Life Guards, a Cavalry regiment of the British Army and served under NATO in the Kosovo War in 1999.
About his support for Help for Heroes, Blunt says, “I’ve seen first-hand how difficult life can be for veterans transitioning from the Armed Forces into Civvy Street; it can be especially hard if they’ve been medically discharged and need to cope with health issues on top of finding a new career.
“That’s why, as a patron of Help for Heroes, I’m giving a portion of my proceeds from the song ‘Monsters’ to the charity – and why I’m very happy for them to be collecting donations at my concerts. They do fantastic work in helping my former brothers and sisters in arms.”
The money will enable Help for Heroes to support those who have become wounded, injured or sick as a result of their service – giving them and their families the help they need to recover and get on with their lives.
Help for Heroes Community Recovery Manager for Wales & Hereford, Shelley Elgin says, “James has already given us great support, having been a patron for many years and singing at our Help for Heroes concert. Across the UK there have been almost 40,000 people whose military career has ended in the past 20 years because of physical or mental injury, and every day this number grows. James’s fantastic generosity will help us ensure that our specialist teams can be there to support them, whenever they need us.”
The concert in Cardiff is one of nine in the UK leg of his Once Upon A Mind tour which will see the ‘Goodbye My Lover’ singer playing over 60 concerts across Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
