Just Enough for the Real World Benefits Helen Bamber Foundation

By: Apr. 15, 2011
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Music Producers and Writers, Phil Knight and Rob Clydesdale have worked tirelessly with their team of musicians in creating the forthcoming second series of charity performances in association with Emma Thompson's ‘Helen Bamber Foundation'. Repeated due to popular demand, the three live theatre shows will take place on the 5th, 6th and 7th May following the band's release of their first single ‘The Sky Is Always Mine' on 9th May.

‘The Sky Is Always Mine' features vocalist Desi Valentine whose credits include playing the lead in the West End version of Fame and as backing singer for artists such as Elton John and Liza Minnelli. The single will be released on the 9th of May following the three live theatre shows. The theatre shows incorporate the full selection of songs from the charity album ‘Just Enough For The Real World', featuring eleven up and coming singers including the daughter of TV Chef Jean-Christophe Novelli, Christina Novelli, to Desi Valentine and even a full marching band.

In 2008, Phil Knight from Waltham Forest was invited by actress Emma Thompson to view an educational exhibition in Trafalgar Square called ‘Journey'. Journey told the story of an Eastern European girl, Elena, who was trafficked to the UK and subsequently forced to service up to fifty men a day; she was further subjected to physical torture. The Authorities eventually caught up with the trafficking circle, which thankfully led to Elena's release. The Helen Bamber Foundation, whose chair person is Emma Thompson, provided solace and helped Elena turn her life around so that she may now live the normal life she always dreamed of.

This was to change Phil's life forever. He felt such anger for Elena's story that he could no longer simply sit back and ignore such terrible human rights violations. But without having a human rights background he could only act in the arena he knew..............music.

By 2009, Phil wanted to raise awareness of the Helen Bamber Foundation in order to help an unquantifiable number of women and children who are subjects of trafficking every year. The Drum For Life project involved Phil drumming for four and a half days, non-stop, in Leicester Square, to over 1800 songs and subsequently demonstrating self-torture. Sleep deprivation made him hallucinate; the motive behind the project made him cry, but remembering the story of Elena gave him the encouragement to complete the project and raise over £4,000 for the cause. By November 2009, producer Rob Clydesdale from Hertfordshire and Phil joined forces to discuss the making of an album for the benefit of the Foundation. They called it ‘Just Enough For The Real World'.

"This is great music by great writer-performers who were inspired by great suffering. Weirdly, it is full of humour and hope and breathes life into its listeners, not sadness. Joyful and timely, it reminds us what ARTISTS can do when they're in the right place at the right time"- Emma Thompson

"Baroness Benjamin: More and more people are being inspired by documentaries, films and newspaper articles to become proactive, such as the young musician whom I heard about just recently, who saw the documentary "The Journey" and recorded a CD to tell the story of young women sold into sex slavery and continually moved across borders. He did so because he felt compelled to do something to raise awareness. I believe that, in order to engage more people like him, we should encourage the media to search out stories that highlight the evil trade in human beings" - Baroness Benjamin

"Absolutely Fantastic" - Jamie Theakston

‘If this CD and all the hard work behind it can help save just one life, it will all have been worth it,' Phil Knight.


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