Singer records track for charity

TO SAY that Instow-based musician Jaden Cornelius does his bit for charity is to flirt with gross understatement, writes Jamie Harper. Few others regularly go to such great lengths to do their bit for the greater good.

Having first found musical notoriety in the 90s with the boy band B-YOND, Cornelius has supported such household names as Five and Peter Andre, and played to around 308 million people around the world.

His latest charitable venture has seen him record a new song for the Gesar Foundation – a charity aimed at improving the lives of vulnerable children. Penned by the founder of the charity, Kelsang Pawo, and George Lenaudius, the proceeds raised by the song are to help fund new facilities for the North Devon based canplay charity, a creative arts network which brings the arts to children.

Cornelius's version of the song, entitled The Wish Fulfilling Tree, is available to download exclusively from the Gesar Foundation website (www.gesarfoundation .org), in exchange for a donation.

The ever-industrious Cornelius, who celebrated his most recent birthday by walking over broken glass with his friends, raising hundreds of pounds for charity in the process, is also assisting the much garlanded vocalist and actress Olivia Newton-John in her work for Breast Cancer Awareness.

He has created a show which sees renditions by local performers of Newton-John's catalogue. The show is touring the county later this year. Needless to say, all proceeds go to Breast Cancer Awareness.

Amid such altruism, Cornelius is currently working on his second album, which embraces his new found passion for the classical sound since his departure from the globally recognised pop music that defined his earlier musical career.

The Wish Fulfilling Tree is available to download now from www.gesarfoundation.org, and Jaden Cornelius will be appearing at The Muddiford Inn on Saturday July 11.

● Mark Emmins, from Holsworthy, has also recorded a version of The Wish Fulfilling Tree for the Gesar Foundation. See his version on youtube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=upTcH0vAFnE)