A SINGER-SONGWRITER from Dumbarton has released her first charity single – for a cause that’s very close to her heart.

Lorraine McMenamin, who goes by the stage name of Rainey James, sadly became an orphan at the age of 19, and turned to music as her outlet to express her emotions.

After losing her mother, Elizabeth, when she was just ten, and then her father, Thomas, nine years later, the singer is passionate about getting people talking about child bereavement.

All proceeds from her song ‘Somewhere Else’, which was written shortly after the death of Lorraine’s father, will go to charity Simon Says to support their work with young people suffering the loss of loved ones.

Lorraine, 36, said: “My mother passed away when I was ten due to alcohol abuse brought on by trauma after the still birth of my sister.

“Nine years later my father passed away from cancer. I started playing music and it went from there.

“Somewhere Else just came to me, I didn’t even think about it. I didn’t know how to put a song together. It was just raw emotion.”

Lorraine, who now lives in London, says she believes children experiencing bereavement can find a release in taking to an activity and pursuing their talents.

“In helping these children and young adults, if they look at me and see how I wrote this song, they can use their talents, whatever they may be, to help them through these hard times,” she said.

“It could be a skill they have, or it could be anything like football or music.

“Just after my mum passed away I did karate. That helped me so much. I was even Scottish champion.

“For me it really is a sort of relief to put on paper exactly how I feel.

“Other people can relate to the Somewhere Else lyrics even if they don’t know me.

“It’s a dedication to my mother and father, but anybody else who has lost someone could relate to it.”

And Lorraine is delighted to be able to work closely with Simon Says, a charity which provides child bereavement support to children, parents, teachers and carers, with her song release to raise awareness about something people often find difficult to address.

She added: “It’s for a really good cause, and all proceeds go to the charity.

“Child bereavement is a subject people don’t talk about, but people need to talk about this.

“When I lost my mother at age ten there was no support.

“For a ten-year-old child who has lost someone, I would say to them, ‘How are you?’ “It’s so they know there’s someone there. Just getting them to talk.

“There’s help there from Simon Says. They also have a help line. It’s a cause that’s really close to my heart.”

Somewhere Else is now available through all major platforms, including iTunes.