Hugh Cornwell, the former frontman and chief songwriter of The Stranglers, has launched a new campaign to raise awareness and funds for the charity Missing People whilst asking fans to pledge their support for the production of his new album “Totem and Taboo”.

This innovative campaign has been organised by PledgeMusic - a new 'direct-to-fan' music platform that puts the music industry back in the hand of artists and their fans. It is a mutually beneficial partnership between musical acts and their followers, whereby fans can pre-order, or 'pledge' for a new album from the artists they love. Once an act has reached their target the album is made, but acts can continue to receive pledges above and beyond their target, making the budget for the project bigger and supporting charities along the way. Hugh has very kindly donated 5% of his post target profit to Missing People.

Hugh Cornwell said, ”I became aware of the work of Missing People about 12 years ago, when the charity was called the 'National Missing Persons Helpline'. I was astounded by the extent of disappearance of individuals in this country. Not knowing anything about what's happened to a loved one has to be worse than hearing of their death, as it has no completion, and so the grief and worry goes on and on, with no end in sight for the family. The dedication of the people involved in 'Missing People' is remarkable. If you want to experience unselfish people, here they are. The number of volunteers is quite staggering and the amount of time they put in is unbelievable.

“It seems more and more of our population are disappearing every day, either from disenchantment, alienation or abduction… they leave a gap in many of our lives. If any charity is underfunded, it's this one"

Martin Houghton-Brown, Chief Executive of Missing People said, “We are enormously grateful to the legendary Hugh Cornwell for helping the charity to offer a lifeline when someone disappears. We are an independent charity and entirely reliant on donations in order to carry out of vital work supporting the 250,000 people who go missing every year in the UK and their families left behind. So every pledge will make a difference”.

For more information or to make a pledge visit www.pledgemusic.com/projects/hughcornwell