Singer Jamie Cullum has praised Children in Need for its ability to “bring the country together” in “difficult times”.
The 39-year-old has written the charity single Love Is In The Picture for the annual fundraising event.
Speaking about the money raised by millions of Britons across the country, he said it “goes to a place that can help people and it is something that can bring the country together in times that are obviously perceived as quite difficult at the moment”.
Cullum said he was honoured to be asked to pen the song, following in the footsteps of other artists such as Girls Aloud, Ellie Goulding and Jess Glynne.
The 2017 charity appeal raised more than £60 million following an evening with performances from Katie Melua, Rita Ora and Sam Smith.
Among the Children in Need projects Cullum visited was the Spread A Smile charity, which provides entertainment for children and teenagers in hospital.
Asked about the song’s title, he explained it had come out of “thinking about what Children in Need does – you put love in the picture, you put hope in the picture, you put someone who cares, someone who is going to help and it changes the picture, it doesn’t completely alter it but it changes it”.
He added: “I had the title first and that’s what kind of drew me to the song, once I had that title I literally just sat at the piano in my house for a couple of weeks, just carving out the idea of feeling this kind of love and hopefully now positivity coming on and not being a stranger to it, not turning away from it, turning towards it because I think that’s what children in need does.”