A choir of firefighters who were first brought together by Bournemouth's famous choir master Gareth Malone have their sights set on the UK single chart.

The firefighters and support staff from Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service will release a charity single to mark the 15th anniversary of the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York.

The choir, which was brought together by former Bournemouth School student Gareth Malone for the BBC series The Choir: Sing While You Work in 2013 - is donating all proceeds from its moving cover of Bruce Springsteen's The Rising to The Fire Fighters Charity, which provides life enhancing support to UK fire and rescue service personnel.

During the TV series, Cheshire Fire Choir won the nation’s hearts with their moving rendition of ‘The Rising’ – the Bruce Springsteen song, written soon after 9/11, which tells the story of a firefighter in one of the twin towers as he comes to terms with the knowledge that he will not survive. Originally released by Bruce Springsteen in 2002, in reaction to the September 11 2001 attacks on New York City, The Rising earned Springsteen Grammy Awards for Best Rock Song and Best Male Rock Vocal Performance as well as a nomination for Song of the Year.

The decision to record the song was reached in New York where Cheshire Fire Choir had been invited to take part in a concert at Carnegie Hall. While they were there they performed The Rising at the Ground Zero memorial and it was at that particularly poignant performance that the decision was taken to release the song as a single to raise funds for The Fire Fighters Charity.

Watch Manager Phil Marke explains: “Performing The Rising is our way of never forgetting our colleagues. The moving song holds a special meaning for every single member of the choir as it was written in reaction to the September 11th 2001 attack on the Twin Towers in New York in which 343 firefighters, 60 police officers and 10 paramedics lost their lives.

“But, for Cheshire Fire Choir, the song isn’t only a reminder of those who fell on 9/11; each time we sing it we feel it is a tribute to those emergency services personnel in the UK who have given their lives in the line of duty.

“We feel it is the right song for us to release to raise money for The Fire Fighters Charity which is there to help firefighters who put their lives on the line every day to save others. The charity really makes a difference with their support for firefighters and their families."