Ben Haenow has dropped a music video for charity single ‘If You’re Lonely’ in support of mental health charity Mind.
Shining a light on mental health, Ben has crafted an uplifting anthem for those in need of comfort and consolation with all proceeds donated to the charity Mind.
Ben, who rose to fame as the winner of The X Factor in 2014, hopes that the track will help people understand they’re not alone when battling their inner demons.
Ben’s charity video features famous faces and celebrity friends including: Antony Costa (Blue), Michelle Heaton (Liberty X), Bobby Norris (The Only Way Is Essex), Ricky Grover (Eastenders) and Divina De Campo (RuPaul’s Drag Race UK)
You can watch the video below and stream the song on Spotify here.
Ben said of the song: “I think that admitting you have, at some point, suffered with your own mental health issues is essentially just admitting to being human. We all have stress, anxiety, negative thoughts and feel down sometimes, but there is still so much stigma attached to those words ‘mental health’.
“This song was initially kind of like writing a note to myself… ‘I know you’ was almost a reference to my own realisation that I knew deep down how I was feeling wasn’t the real me, and more the effects of all my own negative thoughts and experiences. But also that it can sometimes take someone who really knows you to be able to bring you back from feeling like you are alone with nowhere to turn.”
As well as comforting people, Ben is encouraging individuals to seek help and speak out without fear of judgement. He has been keeping the mental health conversation going online by posting empowering messages and asking fans to do the same.
Ben made the decision to donate all proceeds from ‘If You’re Lonely’ to Mind after seeing the life-changing work the charity does.
He explained: “I have friends who have had experience with Mind and the help, support and counselling that they offer. I have seen how it has lifted such a weight, almost a physical weight, from them and given them not only hope for their future, but aspirations and actual happiness. That’s why I have chosen Mind as the charity I want to help support with the single.”
‘If You’re Lonely’ is the latest song from Ben, who performed at London’s prestigious Royal Albert Hall in March, following ballad ‘Getaway’ and his cover of ‘Heart of Glass’ by Blondie.
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