INMATES at a Scots prison have raised more than £3000 for charity by releasing a CD, the first-ever release by a British prison choir.
The choir at Addiewell Prison in West Lothian, raised the money for homeless charity Shelter Scotland under the guidance of former BBC Young Musician of the Year, Shona Brown.
The 12-strong prison choir, which was set up by Miss Brown, were joined by members of SoundRoutes choirs, from Central Scotland, to record the four-track EP, called Changing Key.
The EP includes versions of The Who's Behind Blue Eyes, Movin' On Up by Primal Scream, Hard Road to Travel by Jimmy Cliff, and a House of the Rising Sun/Amazing Grace medley.
Miss Brown, 29, who also runs the SoundRoutes choirs, set up what is believed to be the UK's first prison choir nearly two years ago and it is a smash hit with prisoners.
She said: "The choir had been running for a couple of years and we had the idea we wanted to work on something with them that could get them heard. I knew there was no way they could do a concert so we decided to do this recording instead, which is the first-ever commercial release by a prison choir in the UK."
Graeme Brown, director of Shelter Scotland, said: "This is a truly transformative project that brought together people on very different sides of the track and united them in a common purpose, singing for pleasure and raising money for charity."
The EP is available for download from iTunes and Amazon and all proceeds go to Shelter Scotland.
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