Billy Bragg taking part in #CoversForCarers

Billy Bragg taking part in the #CoversForCarers challenge to raise money for RCN Foundation to support frontline healthcare workers

Billy Bragg has been a fearless recording artist, tireless live performer and peerless political campaigner for over 35 years. He is now taking part in a new challenge to raise money for front-line healthcare workers. And, yes, that means he could end up covering Taylor Swift!

Covers for Others is a music project where musicians cover a song to raise money for causes they care about. Frank Turner, Declan McKenna, Låpsley and Lauran Hibberd have also taken part in the challenge in the past 2 weeks and raised £12,253 to date. On 25th May, it’s musicians Billy Bragg’s turn – fans can pay £1 to vote for the cover they want to hear, and all the money raised will be going to front-line healthcare workers via the RCN (Royal College of Nursing) Foundation’s COVID-19 Support Fund, which helps staff who are experiencing economic or psychological difficulties.

Covers For Others is a new, fun and innovative way for artists to interact with their fans while raising money for a cause they care about. Billy Bragg has chosen a list of songs for his fans to challenge him to cover. For 4 days, his fans will be able to vote for the song they want to hear by making a donation to the campaign, with each vote for a song costing £1. At the end of the campaign, Billy will learn and perform the song with the most votes and live stream his cover versions on Saturday 30th May at 7pm on Facebook.

The campaign, voting and performance are hosted on the Covers for Others website at https://coversforothers.co.uk/, where updates will appear throughout the week under the hashtag #CoversForCarers.

“The RCN Foundation provides vital support for our NHS nurses and healthcare workers. Sadly, they need the Foundation now more than ever, and I’m very happy to be able to raise money to assist their work through the #CoversForCarers challenge. I’m excited to see which song you choose, so get voting! ”

Billy Bragg, singer-songwriter

“Donations to the RCN Foundation COVID-19 Support Fund through the Covers for Others music project will make a real difference to the many front line health and social care workers who are making an invaluable contribution at the very forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are very grateful for the support of the Fund, which will not only help those individuals who may be experiencing personal hardship as a result of COVID-19 but will also help to address some of the psychological implications associated with working on the frontline at this difficult time.“

Deepa Korea, RCN Foundation Director, RCN Foundation

“We were thrilled to see the amazing response to the first two #CoversForCarers’ campaigns with Frank Turner, Declan McKenna, Låpsley and Lauran Hibberd raising £12,253 for the RCN Foundation to support our front-line health and social care workers. We’re all huge fans of Billy Bragg in the team and are absolutely delighted that he is taking part this week and hope that the challenge will bring a bit of fun to people’s week whilst supporting an important cause.”

Cecile Communal, Cover For Others co-founder.