If you didn’t know it already, Feeder are big War Child supporters. Over the years, they've given us music for our our download store (an amazing cover of REM’s ‘Everybody Hurts’ which you can download now) as well as fundraising by playing live shows.

FEEDER GO THE EXTRA 3964 MILES

Live shows, album contributions and big fundraisers weren’t enough for the three-piece however, and after handing over two delicious, exclusive versions of their single, Save Us, which you can download now - Feeder said they'd like to do more to help. We suggested they visit one of our projects to see for themselves exactly where the money they've raised is going, so in 2006 they departed for the Democratic Republic of Congo. Q Magazine kindly said if Feeder agreed they'd cover the story.

After being devastated by years of conflict and immeasurable suffering, you could be forgiven for asking the question: Does the Congo really need a rock group right now?

We can all be cynics when it comes to a trip like this; it's wise to maintain a healthy scepticism. The terrifying fact is that over the last eight years some four million people have died in a conflict we've barely noticed in the UK. It's death on a scale that dwarfs what's happening in Iraq, yet we've barely blinked.

So if Feeder allow themselves to be a device which drags our attention to the generation of children whose lives have been ripped apart by war, then that can only be a good thing.

Feeder get to know some of the children we work with in the DRC.

FEAR, COMPASSION AND OPTIMISM IN KINSHASA

The trip was more than just dragging our attention to this often ignored conflict. Journalists and even aid workers too - often watch the world with a sophistication and detachment that's inevitably part of their job. Grant, Taka and Mark didn't have that luxury. From the moment we stepped off the plane at Ndjili Airport in Kinshasa, their reactions were raw; bemused, scared, compassionate, sometimes tearful, sometimes angry, but also remarkably optimistic too.

Watch the photogallery of Feeder's trip to the DRC on War Child's YouTube channel.

FEEDER RE-WORK A CLASSIC

At the beginning of June 2005, War Child published a report called 'Your War Is Not With Me', in which children were asked about the long-term effects of war on them. It was an eye-opener. To present the report to a wider audience, a short film was made for which Feeder entered the studio to exclusively record the soundtrack. The result? A spectacular reworking of the REM classic 'Everybody Hurts' which you can download here.

The track really struck a chord as the film's soundtrack and in no small way helped to get the report's underlying message across - children should never be affected by conflict.

To find out more about our work in the DRC and in our other project countries, visit our projects page.