After winning both the Innovation Award and the Judges’ Award at the 2020 College Awards for their #PassingPositivity mental health initiative, the Ayrshire College team has continued to work hard to improve the mental health and wellbeing of students, staff, and the wider community within Ayrshire.
Their latest venture is the release of charity single Don’t Forget Who You Are, which was written and recorded in collaboration with Ayrshire College’s Passing Positivity initiative. The high profile #PassingPositivity: Mental Health United campaign was created in partnership with The Kris Boyd Charity. The campaign aim is to raise awareness about mental health, to get people talking about it, and to encourage people to get help if they need it.
The song was written by talented college student Leah Batty just before the Coronavirus pandemic last year. The track was produced by Sound Production Lecturer, David McAulay, and performed by Jai McDowell, former Ayrshire College student and 2011 winner of Britain’s Got Talent.
Jai said: “It’s an incredible song for an incredible cause….hopefully we’ll be able to help many people through the power of music.”
The modern pop song, which was released by Ayrshire College’s record label Sun Turtle Records in May 2021, has a powerful lyrical message focusing on Mental Health Awareness. The accompanying music video was created by John McBlain, Ayrshire College’s Lecturer in Music and Performance, who co-ordinated the song’s release.
John said: “It was important to get this single out there. Many people struggle with mental health issues every day, but as we know this has really been intensified by Covid. Releasing this song has allowed us to promote the message behind it to a much bigger audience. It’s great to be able to raise awareness about mental health, to do something proactive and to bring people together through music.”
The track’s artwork (pictured left) was designed by local Prestwick Academy school pupil Fraser Ferguson.
Tune in to Ayrshire College’s special Rockpool podcast: Passing Positivity episode, which features Kris Boyd and the whole team behind the project, to find out more about how the collaboration and single came about. Click here to find out more.
All proceeds of Don’t Forget Who You Are will be donated to The Kris Boyd Charity.
Buy the song from Bandcamp here
