‘Love’, written by Chess employee David Blunt, features over 60 Chess employees and was released on the 20th May on iTunes to raise funds for the East Cheshire Hospice. Julie was an employee of Chess for over 20 years and had strong family ties to the business with her two children Grace and Chris and partner Steve all being employed at Chess. Julie helped the company rise through the ranks and create a business with a current annual turnover of £45m.
The origins of the song have deep emotional routes for its creator Dave, who has generously given up any rights to royalties in the hope that it will contribute to the company vision of raising thousands more for the East Cheshire Hospice.
Stephen Dracup, Managing Director at Chess & Julie’s partner stated, “Julie’s children Chris & Grace along with myself have been overwhelmed by the support shown and the admiration our colleagues had for Julie. At Chess we encourage our people to play their part in the wider community by supporting charities and for so many to come together and give up their time in memory of Julie embodies the one-team spirit here at Chess, something I know Julie felt strongly about. It means so much to myself, her children and all our friends and colleagues at Chess.”
Chess Chief Executive David Pollock commented: “Julie was our first employee 20 years ago and her contribution to our success is second to none. We hope the record raises lots of money for East Cheshire Hospice.”
As well as the charity single, Love, Chess had 25 of its staff raising more funds in the BUPA Greater Manchester Run on Sunday, May 26th as part of its on-going support for the Hospice.
To contribute to Julie’s cause go to www.justgiving.com/10k-for-julie or click here to download the song on Google Play http://bit.ly/18w58za.