Once again, we had a very busy Christmas period. On December 7fed we performed a concert at All Saints, Oystermouth for the ‘Maggies’ cancer charity. This is fast becoming an annual event and we were joined by the Thomas Coaches Mid-Rhondda Brass Band. The church was packed, and the first half was made up of both the choir and band performing items from their normal repertoires and ended with the two joining together for ‘Morte Criste’. The second half started with everyone joining in with ’O Come All Ye Faithful’ and the band played ‘Christmas Festival’. There was a wonderful atmosphere in the church and the band ended with an audience participation piece ‘Christmas Swingalong’. Band director Alan Gibbs had his work cut out to get different areas of the audience to sway to a ‘round’, in time with the band, to great hilarity. The band were once again wonderful and fully contributed to a great night. We then finished the evening with our Christmas items which included many of our popular items such as ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’, ‘Stop the Cavalry’ and ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’. Dr Pat Steane thanked the choir and band for the entertainment and announced that they had already raised £2500 for the charity from the concert.
The next Tuesday we sang at the Scout Hut, Brynmill, which is a concert organised by the Ladies Committee. Again, this is an annual event and the ladies very kindly provide a buffet and raised money for a local charity. The Ladies committee work very hard for the choir and their Chairperson, Linda Lewis, deserves so much credit for organising this event, and others, during the year. Two days later we sang at the Pier Café, Mumbles, again, raising money for charity. This also seems to be an annual event and the café provides a lovely atmosphere.
On Saturday 14fed we sang at St Hillary’s church, Killay. This is a new event for us, and the church was holding a ‘Christmas Tree Festival’. There were many trees around the church, but we did manage to squeeze into the small area in the nave and the on the chancel steps. The concert was introduced by Rev Phillip Gwynn and, again, we did a mix of our normal repertoire and Christmas items.
Our last concert was at St Stephen’s church, Port Tennant. This has also become an annual event but was moved from the main St Thomas church due to ongoing alterations and renovations. Once again, the three local school choirs took part, St Thomas Community School, Danygraig Junior School and Cefn Hengoed School. Each choir was introduced by their headmasters and, as usual, were absolutely fantastic. We finished off the evening with everyone joining in with ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’. Thanks go to Rev Steve Bunting for running the event and, hopefully, next year we may be back at St Thomas’ if the work has been completed.
After a busy few weeks we had a relaxing afternoon and evening at the Queen’s on Thursday 19fed. A good number of members turned up and we had a good old sing-song which the locals really enjoyed. A great end to a busy December!
