ONE of Winchester ’s most talented musicians is doing her bit to boost our Olympic hopes this summer.

Character actress and singer-songwriter Juliet Howland has released a fourtrack EP, Good Luck & Distant Music, to support Olympians ahead of the Games, which start on Friday.

Good Luck was first released as part of her debut album, A Promise of Return, two years ago but she decided to rerelease it to tie in with the Olympics .

“As the Olympics were approaching an idea popped in my head and I thought I should put it out because it’s such an upbeat and catchy song.

“It was also nice because my grandfather, Robert Leslie Howland, was an Olympic athlete in the shot put in the 1928 Games in Amsterdam.

“He used to use the shot as a doorstop in his cottage, so I thought it was a good way to remember him.”

It was part of her plan to release the EP as an oldfashioned single with an Aside and a B-side, the latter a trilogy of songs inspired by James Joyce’s short story The Dead from Dubliners.

Juliet, from Abbots Worthy, near Winchester, said: “I always adored the story which is so beautifully written. I recorded it about six months after my album and I love playing it at gigs, especially Innocent Love, and I get people asking me ‘Why isn’t it on the album?’, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get it out.”

Fifty pence from every copy sold of the EP – which went on sale in Winchester shops in time for the arrival of the Olympic Torch – goes to Sport Relief.

Juliet said: “I have so many friends who did the London Marathon for charity. I could never do that so I thought I could try and help in this way.

“Sport has played an important role in my family, as my father was a rower and my grandfather was in the Olympics, so I wanted to do what I could.”

Juliet is currently splitting her time between singing and acting and has almost finished a short film starring John Hannah.

“So far the balance has been quite good,” she said. “I have no idea what’s coming next; I am waiting to hear on two television roles and my album has been chosen to be on the soundtrack for a short film I am doing, so singing and acting do go very well together.”

Juliet is also returning to the National Theatre in London in September.