As we know, the public discourse surrounding refugees has been tainted in recent months. They are all too often associated with religious extremists - the very people they are in fact fleeing from.  More needs to be done to help UK residents have empathy with the true situation of refugees.

The lyrics of this song are based on documentary footage and personal accounts of those who have attempted to flee war torn regions, such as Syria.

100% of proceeds from the sale of the song will be shared between 3 charities who work on different aspects of the refugee crisis in Europe and the Middle East. These charities have expressed that they are willing to be involved and will help promote the song.

They are:

MSF Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders)

Hand in Hand for Syria

Help Refugees

The song itself 'Long Time At Sea' has been produced by Vic Coppersmith (producer for The Jam, also worked with The Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, and Jo Cocker), and it was written and performed by Joshua Kivu featuring cello, violin, and a middle-eastern Daf drum.

After listening to various debates, sometimes heated and ill informed, and following the release of a documentary via The Guardian called 'Death At Sea: Syrian refugees film their perilous voyage to Europe', Joshua wanted to get a first hand look into the harsh reality of the situation. After volunteering for a few trips over to the 'Jungle' refugee camp in Calais and hearing often overwhelming, harrowing personal stories from the people he met, Joshua wrote the track (along with the video) to help raise awareness of the current refugee crisis.

Here is a link to the fundraising page: https://fundly.com/long-time-at-sea

The single is out on the 16th December:

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/long-time-at-sea/id1181901714?i=1181901978&app=music&ign-mpt=uo%3D4