An award-winning singing star from Shirebrook is urging his fellow teenagers to pick up a guitar or grab a microphone to boost their mental health during the ongoing pandemic.

Sixteen-year-old River Hopkins says his music is more important than ever, as he faces the uncertainty surrounding his GCSEs later this year and having to cope with the isolation of life under lockdown.

River is joint winner of the under-18s category of the 2020 UK Songwriting Contest after a song he wrote about Mansfield went viral on YouTube.

Since then his video of Welcome To Mansfield has been watched more than 4,000 times, a song he wrote about the pandemic was screened on BBC Breakfast News and he was invited to switch on the town’s Christmas lights.

Now the talented teenager has released a new song, Lie To Me, in which he asks an array of TV weather presenters to help cheer everyone up, with the aim of raising money for a homeless charity.

Along with the majority of students at Shirebrook Academy, River is currently studying at home and says, with life difficult at the moment, music is an excellent way to help deal with life’s challenges.

“Music is a great way to distract yourself and take your mind off things. It’s important at the moment with everything that’s going on,” he said.

“I’m finding GCSEs quite stressful, but I think music helps with everything — you can be feeling down or you can be happy, it’s a great outlet regardless of how you’re feeling.

“So I would definitely encourage other people to take up musical lessons, whether that be the guitar, drums or singing.”

Lie To Me features Nigerian musician Donsmarter, alongside his own mum, Katie, who had to step in when the studio closed midway through recording due to lockdown.

The original track is an uplifting, humorous tale of Britain’s unpredictable — and often, disappointing, weather — and sees River asking the likes of ITV Central weatherman Des Coleman, Sky’s Jo Wheeler and local BBC weather presenter Keeley Donovan to lie to us about the forecast in a bid to shed some hope and light on these strange and gloomy times.

He said the idea for the song came about when a Facebook user challenged him to write a happy song after viewing his Welcome To Mansfield track online.

As well as putting a smile on his own face, River hopes the song will help homeless people going through a tough time, with the proceeds going to homeless charity Centrepoint, which provides young people with a safe place to live while offering support with education or finding a job.

He said he was inspired to make the gesture after a homeless man, named Leo, gave him his last 50p while busking and, when River protested, Leo said it made him feel good to give the money to such a musical talent.

River has been playing the guitar since the age of seven and his dad, David, says the whole family are proud of him and have high hopes for his new record.

“He’s got his head screwed on and is very motivated, so we have every faith in him that he will do well no matter what he does,” said David.

“River’s friends message him regularly, asking for help with music, and so he’s a bit of an inspiration.

“Trying to record the song when nothing’s open or running normally has been quite the ordeal.

“Just being able to get it finished is amazing and we’re so proud of him. I think his music does so well because of how different it is.”

River added: “I’m definitely keen to pursue a career in music. However, it’s such a competitive business and is a lot harder at the moment with no shows and concerts going ahead.

“So my back up is to work hard for my GCSEs, go to college and train as a firefighter — and play music alongside all of that.”

Lie To Me is available to purchase on iTunes from today with all proceeds being donated to Centrepoint. To watch Welcome To Mansfield and other songs by the teenager, go to his YouTube channel — https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCej4zyORj3Bx1ok-giMJDRA