A song dedicated to NHS Staff has won at the UK Songwriting Contest

A song written to remember and commemorate NHS staff called ‘Angels in Disguise’ has won at the UK Songwriting Contest.

The song was produced by Ian Jackson who is the brother of Dr Lucy Wilson-Shaw, Clinical and Operational Lead for Kensington and Chelsea IAPT Talking Therapies, the lyrics were written by Dennis Higgins who only started songwriting after he retired.

Dennis, now 87, was a former veteran who served in the RAF for 12 years.

During the pandemic he entered the song into the contest along with four other entries.

The song is a touching tribute to all NHS staff, the lyrics of the song include:

They say they’re not heroes

But we know otherwise

They’re not only heroes

They’re angels in disguise

Dennis enjoys writing songs as it helps to keep his mind active. Songwriting was a natural choice for him, he said, “writing a book took far too long so I started to look for something else that would occupy my time. Poetry or the writing of lyrics seemed the obvious choice as English had been one of my better subjects at school.”

His first attempt at writing a song was for Christmas. The song was called ‘Stand a Tree in your Window’ and was inspired by his late father whose favourite time of year was Christmas. His father was a night worker and all the lights used to brighten the sky as he went to work.

Dennis’ story and his success at the UK songwriting Contest proves you can do anything at any time.

You can listen to Angels in Disguise here