Matt Lucas, better known for his comedy work with David Walliams, has just released a Christmas song entitled ‘Merry Christmas, Baked Potato,’ to raise money for Fair Share UK, a British charity organisation which is ‘Fighting hunger and #foodwaste by saving good quality in-date surplus food and redistributing it to charities across the UK.’ The song is available to stream on leading platforms Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and Youtube Music as well as to download from Amazon or iTunes and the video can be watched for free on Youtube.
As well ‘all proceeds from downloads going to support @FareShareUK!’ Lucas is also encouraging fans to donate to the charity directly here with one-off donations of £10 helping to deliver enough food for 40 meals and a more generous sum of £125 going towards delivering 500 meals. Those who would like to make a longer term commitment to the charity can also set up monthly, quarterly or yearly amounts to be donated on an ongoing basis.
The comedian also released a song back in April this year which was called ‘Thank You Baked Potato,’ which was released to raise money for Feed NHS, ‘an initiative set up by food chain LEON alongside Matt, actor Damien Lewis and his actress wife Helen McCrory to raise £1 million and get 6,000 meals a day into London hospitals for critical care staff.’ As well as raising money to feed NHS staff, the song also helped lift people’s spirits as they lived through a long first lockdown. The song was so popular in fact, that it entered the UK official charts at number 34, not a bad effort for a song written and performed by a comedian.
Now Matt Lucas is following up the success of that effort made in April with the Christmas themed ‘Merry Christmas, Baked Potato,’ there is hope that his fans will be inspired to contribute to the Fair Share UK charity which will be playing a vital role at this time of year, especially as the country begins to deal with the harsh economic consequences that the coronavirus will surely have had. There is also hope that this song will help to fill the general public with the Christmas cheer which is so desperately needed, especially with the entire country only just about to move away from a full nation lockdown.
Despite navigating through a difficult time and strict restrictions for most of 2020, the Bake Off co-host’s campaign received widespread support from musicians across the country who collaborated with him in many co-performances orchestrated via zoom and which were then uploaded to Youtube. Stars who made an appearance with Matt Lucas include Queen guitarist Brian May, Rick Astley, Micheal Ball and Carrie Fletcher.
Although only a couple of days have passed since ‘Merry Christmas, Baked Potato,’ was released the enormous success and widespread support amongst celebrities and the public alike for ‘Thank You, Baked Potato,’ are reason for great optimism for the success of this new charity fundraiser.
