Sweet music: Wigan man creates new song and video about the Uncle Joe's Mint Ball factory
A bereaved man who took to songwriting as therapy has delighted bosses of Wigan’s famous sweet factory with a catchy tune and video about it.
The Toffee Works was created by 40-year-old Chris Winnard from Platt Bridge using AI apps.
He wrote the lyrics after researching the history of the Wm Santus and Co business which has been making confectionary in the town since 1898, and he also created a slide show video of curated pictures from the firm to accompany the music.
It has delighted bosses at the Dorning Street plant, saying it has cheered everyone up no end during difficult times for the world.
Chris, who is no relation of brothers John and Antony Winnard who run Uncle Joe’s, lost no fewer than 12 friends and family in the space of two years, including his best friend to pneumonia, and he says this series of blows took him to a dark place.
The delivery driver said: “A former employer was kind enough to get me a life coach who suggested that it might be therapeutic to write music.
"I needed somewhere to vent. There was so much tension and sadness building up.
"Now I can’t play an instrument to save my life and I haven’t got a great singing voice, but I found that I could write lyrics and I am self-taught computer-literate, so with the help of an AI music generator app like Suno, I found I could create songs.
"I got reading about Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls and was interested in all its history so I decided to put that to music. It seems to have gone down well.”
John Winnard said: “We love it! It’s very catchy and melodious.
"People have written songs about Uncle Joe’s before, including the one by Mike Harding, and this is a modern take on it.
"We're living in some pretty grim times at the moment and this song and video about our Uncle Joe's factory has put a smile on everyone's faces.
"It’s also nice that it’s a local history lesson as well as a piece of music that offers some light relief”