Two Cwmbran choirs held a joint concert that raised over £1,100 for St David’s Hospice Care.
The event by Pontnewydd Ladies Choir and Pontnewydd Male Choir, saw a long queue waiting for the doors to open at St Hilda’s Church Hall in Griffithstown.
The event in early June raised £1,176. The choirs presented the cheques to St David’s on Tuesday 24 June in St Mary’s Church Hall in Croesyceiliog.
‘Memory of Jan Walters’
Phyllis Jones, secretary of Pontnewydd Ladies Choir, said the event was held in memory of Jan Walters, who sang second soprano for 33 years and passed away from cancer in November 2024.
She said: “We decided that even though St David’s never helped Jan, because Jan never came out of hospital, they had touched so many of us. We decided it was a good cause.”
Ian Evans, Pontnewydd Men’s Choir, said: “It’s such a pleasure to sing with the ladies. It was such a great occasion, the concert hall was full, really well attended. At the end, we sang two numbers together, completely unrehearsed, may I say, but the sound was excellent.
Ms Jones said: “We sang Calon Lân and You Raise Me Up [together].
‘Queuing up the road’
“We weren’t sure how many tickets were sold, and we looked out of the door, and they were queuing up the road. It was fab, we were getting chairs from everywhere. It was very well supported.”
Abi Hughes, community fundraiser at St David’s, said: “I always feel amazed with our community fundraisers and what they do for the hospice. Without them, we simply couldn’t do half of what we do with all of our caring services, which are always completely free.
“Community fundraisers and concerts like this are so pivotal to the hospice. We’re always so grateful for every penny, every pound.”
Jim Thompson, chairman of St David’s, said: I want to thank you for this incredible donation. We rely so heavily on community fundraising to help us fund our services.
“It costs us £9.5m a year to run St David’s Hospice and our biggest challenge is telling people we are a charity, we are not part of the NHS. We support the NHS but we’re a charity.
“At any one time in our ‘Hospice At Home’ [service] we’re looking at 1,450 patients per month being looked after by St Davids’ Hospice.”
Pontnwydd Ladies Choir is looking for new members. If you’re interested or know someone who may want to join, pop along to St Mary’s Church any Tuesday from 6.30pm to 8pm.