MARTINS PROFILE
The Chaplain of the Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax, the Revd. Martin Parrott has written a CD of songs to raise awareness and funds for the worldwide fight against HIV/Aids.
Called "Songs from Hell to Heaven" it is highly personal compilation put together by Martin who wrote it over a period of six months. It was inspired by local guitar teacher and record producer Albie Harrup who suggested the project to Martin.
Martin said, "I wrote down a list of things important to me in my life and wrote songs about each one. I am very proud of the result and Albie has done a fantastic job producing it."
"I felt uneasy doing the CD just for money and I have always had a horror of what is going on in Africa and other parts of the world as a result of the mixture of poverty and the HIV virus. So if the CD can help to raise awareness of the fact that a 1000 children a day are born with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, then it will be worthwhile."
"Two years ago there were no drugs for people suffering from Aids in Africa. Now, 2 million are on anti-retrovirals, but when you consider that 65million people are living with HIV/Aids we still have some way to go."
"Regardless of the charity element, I would like the songs to stand in their own right and my hope is that people enjoy them for what they are. They are in a variety of styles of music including blues, pop, ballad and folk."
Martin said: "My favourite song is one written for my daughter called, "Daddy's Girl", but there are love songs and some based on spiritual themes.
"Above everything, the project has been fun and if others enjoy the songs then that will be great."
A donation from the sale of each will go to the Global Fund for HIV/Aids, Malaria and TB which currently funds 20 per cent of the treatment programmes worldwide for HIV/AIDS.
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