'Stand aside Mariah Carey and Noddy Holder!': RNLI's Kessock ...

Lifesaving crew members at a Highland RNLI base have briefly swapped the sea for singing - after teaming up with a choir to record a Christmas single!

The RNLI Kessock crew have worked with the People's Show Choir on the Black Isle to record a new version of Phil Coulter’s 'Home From The Sea' - in a bid to "help raise vital funds at Christmas".

And they have posted a video of the tune on their Facebook page.

Announcing the quirky Christmas choir collaboration, a spokesperson for the RNLI Kessock station said: "Stand back Cliff, Noddy and Mariah! What a treat we have for you this Christmas, we’ve only gone and recorded a Christmas single!

"Thanks to Ula and Baz, we have collaborated together with The People's Show Choir Black Isle, to help raise vital funds at Christmas.

"Ula and Baz organised this and ensured that everything was in place in order for this to work from singing lessons to production. We think it’s amazing, and hopefully you do as well.

"If you wish to donate to Kessock’s vital fundraising fund for training and station running costs, please click on the link at www.justgiving.com/page/homefromthesea.

"Thanks again to everyone involved, we hope all our followers enjoy it."

Explaining their reasoning for recording the new single, the spokesperson added: “It has been released over the festive period to remind [everyone] that the crew volunteers at the RNLI will continue to answer the call if needed during this time.

“The RNLI are a 24 -hour service purely run by the generous donations they receive from the public. Without [them] we would not be able to save lives at sea.”

Early reaction to the new single has been overwhelmingly positive, with comments online praising their "absolutely fantastic" efforts, and other who took part saying it "was a real privilege to be part of this - it was emotional on the day and also now listening!”

It certainly looks set to raise a good total for the charity. Just hours after the link to the video was shared, their JustGiving page had already raised more than half of their initial £500 target - and who knows where it will go from there!

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