A MAN who spent much of his childhood in care is hoping to record an album after hitting the right notes at a charity singing competition.

Daniel Harris, 32, wowed the audience at the Big Sing Off 2016 last month with his group Voices Matter.

The group performed Mad World by Gary Jules and now they want inspire other people who have been in care.

Mr Harris, from Brighton, said: “There was a lot of stuff from my past which was all coming to the surface and I just put it into the performance.

“The kids absolutely loved it, I felt myself again and I thought, I can’t stop here.”

The Big Sing Off is a charity event which brings together looked after children, foster parents, carers and care leavers for a day of musical performances.

Mr Harris, of Percival Terrace, has struggled with drug addiction, homelessness and mental health issues since leaving care.

He is currently in recovery after a mental health problems last year left him unemployed and with nowhere to live.

Mr Harris decided to enter the Big Sing Off after reaching out to the care leavers charity The Rees Foundation for help.

He said: “Most charities for care leavers stop at 25 because of funding but the Rees Foundation has no age limit.

“I got a phone call from a project development manager there and she listened to me.”

The Rees Foundation was set up by Jan Rees OBE, who also founded Core Assets, the children’s services group which organised the Big Sing Off 2016.

Through the charity, Mr Harris went to a networking event in Birmingham and met other care leavers with similar stories to his.

It was on the train home from the event that they decided to form a group.

Mr Harris said: “I was so inspired when I met the other care leavers that I just started singing

“One of the girls said to me ‘you’ve got quite a good voice there, Daniel’.

“There were ten of us together on the train, and we all started singing.

“I said to them ‘why don’t we do a choir of care leavers?’”

After the performance, Mr Harris and the other members of the group decided to keep singing together, and Voices Matter was born.

The group hopes to raise £5,000 through crowdfunding to write and record an album to benefit both children in care and care leavers.

After raising the money, Mr Harris hopes to start The Voices Matter Foundation, a charity that he hopes will enable those in care to pursue their musical ambitions.

Mr Harris Said: “I want to give them a platform on which to express themselves and move on.

“I want to inspire people to take risks and come out of their comfort zone and give them a support network so that they’re not waiting, like me, until they are 32.”