Advertisement
BLACK FRIDAY OFFER: 3 months for just £9.99
SUBSCRIBE
Activism

Hairy Biker Si King releases charity single to raise money for food banks

He's best known as one half of the Hairy Bikers and now he is partnering up with food bank The Trussell Trust to help those in need

Si King with fellow Hairy Biker Dave Myers in Birmingham. Image credit: Birmingham City Council / Flickr

Si King (left) with fellow Hairy Biker Dave Myers in Birmingham. Image credit: Birmingham City Council / Flickr

He is best known as one half of the Hairy Bikers, the TV chefs and best mates who have become national treasures through their passion for food and travel.

But perhaps less well known about Si King is that he is also a keen musician and drummer of Geordie four-piece Little Moscow. 

And now the band, which plays a blend of funk, rock, blues and disco tunes, has partnered up with food bank network the Trussell Trust to increase awareness of food poverty and fight for a hunger-free future. 

Support The Big Issue and our vendors by signing up for a subscription.

Speaking to Sky News, King explained that with so many people struggling during the pandemic and even before that, the band wanted to help.

“There was a sense of frustration with all the lads in the band that what we were seeing unfold, particularly across the pandemic but also prior to that, was people just not being able to afford the the basics of life,” he said. 

Advertisement
Advertisement

The Trussell Trust has more than 1,200 food banks across the UK, indicating the sheer scale of people needing help. The Trust said food banks faced “historic levels of need” in 2020 as the pandemic raged. 

Footballer and campaigner Marcus Rashford is perhaps the best-known star fighting to end food poverty. 

Working with charity FareShare, he raised tens of millions for vulnerable young people and forced the Government into a u-turn to provide free school meal vouchers over the summer holiday.

More recently, Rashford has backed the Right To Food campaign to outlaw hunger and launched a new venture to help families cook healthy meals with Healthy Start vouchers

Following in the Manchester United ace’s footsteps, King’s band has released a selection of specialist merchandise that will help raise much-needed funds for The Trussell Trust’s Hunger Free Future campaign.

Advertisement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeqNasTRUC0

100 per cent of the profits of Little Moscow’s new single Waiting for The Sun and the new merchandise will help those in need.

King added: “We just thought, ‘Well, look, we’ve got to do something about this’.

“We were frustrated that in the UK in 2021 there was a necessity for [food banks], which was shocking to us. 

“People use food banks for various reasons, it’s not just one reason its an accumulative effect of maybe losing a job or [being a carer] and it was just shocking for us. 

“So we wanted to do something to raise awareness of the issue but also to just bring a little bit of light and air into what is quite a heavy subject.”

Advertisement
Advertisement

Change a vendor's life this Christmas

This Christmas, 3.8 million people across the UK will be facing extreme poverty. Thousands of those struggling will turn to selling the Big Issue as a vital source of income - they need your support to earn and lift themselves out of poverty.

Recommended for you

View all
Meet the tireless volunteers making sure children in poverty have a Christmas to remember
Christmas toy appeals

Meet the tireless volunteers making sure children in poverty have a Christmas to remember

Here's what to do if you see a homeless person
a person lies on the pavement facing away from the camera, with a guitar propped up beside them
Homelessness

Here's what to do if you see a homeless person

These charities collect furniture for free to help those in need
a bare mattress pushed against a window in a dark room
Charity

These charities collect furniture for free to help those in need

Malala Yousafzai on taking on the Taliban and why 'storytelling is the soul of activism'
Malala Yousafzai
Activism

Malala Yousafzai on taking on the Taliban and why 'storytelling is the soul of activism'

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know