York charity duo tell MAXINE GORDON how the video for their body positivity song has gone viral

WHEN Holly Bilton and Georgie Fishkin made a fun music video as part of Mental Health Awareness week, they had no idea that their song about body positivity would go viral.

The women, who both work for York Mind, made the video on the office patio and uploaded it to the internet – and within days it had been seen by more than 60,000 people.

In the video, Holly plays a ukulele and sings while Georgie does an animated dance to the lyrics.

Holly, 32, York Mind fundraising manager and a talented local singer-songwriter, penned the track The Body Positivity Song in 15 minutes based on the findings of a survey she and Georgie carried out during Mental Health Awareness Week.

Holly said: "We hosted various stalls and stands during the week and because the theme of the week was body image we asked people what they could celebrate about their bodies."

Georgie, 24, kicked things off by revealing that she liked her smile. "My family says it reminds me of my granny's smile and she is not with us anymore so it is nice to have that link to her."

The duo said they were amazed by how many people had viewed the video – firstly on the York Mind Facebook page and then on Pretty52, a global video sharing page on Facebook.

And they said they hoped the upbeat video would encourage more people to talk about body image concerns, which can impact on mental health.

Georgie is the young person's co-ordinator for York Mind and said worries over body image were alarmingly common among people coming to the organisation for help.

She said: "More often than not it is an issue. People associate it with teenage girls, but teenage lads are affected too. And more recently, we are seeing young people struggling with gender identity.

"They are massively influenced by the media. When you go online and see these bodies people are striving for it's just not realistic."

So far, said Holly, the response to the video had been hugely positive. "It seems to have gone down really well with people."

Georgie added: "People find it so easy to put themselves down. They think about the negative things about themselves rather than the positive. They worry that if they say something positive, it might come across as big headed or self indulgent.

"By spreading the message of body positivity in a fun way we are getting people involved in that discussion."

Holly said the success of the video had encouraged them to try to raise money from the song for the charity.

She said: "Not wanting to miss an opportunity to help York Mind, we have decided to record and release The Body Positivity Song as a single – with 100 per cent of of download and streaming proceeds being donated towards mental health support in York."

The Body Positivity Song by Holly & Georgie will be available on iTunes & Spotify from next Monday June.

You can watch the original video on The Press website: thepress.co.uk and one the York Mind Facebook page.