News

Jordan Parkinson is using his singing talent to support the world’s largest orphan charity, SOS Children.

Jordan, who attends The Hundred of Hoo Media Arts School in Rochester, has been asked to be an official Ambassador for SOS Children’s annual fundraising campaign, World Orphan Week, which takes place 9-15 February 2009.

The fifteen year old singer from Rochester has recorded the official campaign song, a cover of Stevie Wonder’s ‘For Once in My Life’ and was invited to visit the charity’s projects in Romania at the end of 2008.

Jordan, who has been signing since he was nine years old, is set to have a huge career ahead of him, recently making it through to the regional semi-finals of a singing competition called Live and Unsigned and signing up to a high-profile music management company.

Jordan says: “When I was asked to become an Ambassador for SOS Children, I was really excited and felt very privileged. I got the opportunity to visit an SOS project for myself and want to do as much as I can to help for many, many years. I’m so glad I went and have witnessed the great work that SOS do for all these children.”

SOS Children is the world’s largest orphan charity and provides a new family and home for children who have no one else to care for them.

As part of his Ambassadorial role, Jordan will be encouraging more children to get involved by visiting schools, including his old Primary School, Cliffe Woods in Rochester, to talk about his experience.

Elizabeth Rodgers, of SOS Children says “It’s fantastic that Jordan has given up so much of his time to help other children who are less fortunate. For us, Jordan is the perfect Ambassador because he is able to use his incredible talent to inspire his peers.”

World Orphan Week asks children of all ages to dress up for one day and donate to SOS Children. For schools taking part, teachers can combine the day with specially designed lesson plans which focus on global topics such as Child labour, HIV/AIDS and child rights. 100% of the funds raised during World Orphan Week (9-15 February 2009) go towards SOS Children project and people can take part by registering online at www.soschildren.org/wow

Elizabeth Rodgers says “We were keen to invite Jordan to be an Ambassador to complement our existing celebrity supporters. We believe it’s important to identify Ambassadors who can directly relate to their peers. Jordan may not be a recognised artist yet, but we're hugely excited to have him on board and hundreds of children have already been inspired to join the campaign because of him.”