On World Mental Health Day 2020, Côr ABC presented £500 to meddwl.org, a volunteer-run website providing information on mental health issues through the medium of Welsh.
The sum was raised from the sale of prints of artwork by artist Sioned Glyn commissioned by Côr ABC and Côr Dinas in relation to their yn un rhith virtual choir project to perform a new piece of the same name by composer, Andrew Cusworth, who set an englyn by crowned bard, Dafydd John Pritchard.
Gwennan Williams, conductor of Côr ABC said: “We were due to take part in a concert in support of the Meddwl website back in June and, since that concert had to be cancelled due to the pandemic, we are very pleased to present this sum raised through our lockdown project to the website at this challenging time.
“The virtual choir project and our weekly virtual rehearsals have been an important lifeline for many of us in recent months, and it is fitting that the choir has chosen to support a voluntary organisation providing much-needed mental health resources in Welsh through its lockdown activities.”
Composer and project leader, Andrew Cusworth, added: “One of the many reasons that we sing in choirs is for the positive effect it has on our mental health. During the lockdown, choirs had to find new ways of continuing to gather not only for musical reasons but for social and community ones, and as a means of raising the spirits of their members, staying in touch, and looking out for one another.“On World Mental Health Day, we are reminded again of the importance of music in our lives and in our wellbeing. The donation to the Meddwl website resonates with the aims and outcomes of our project, which we have now opened up to other choirs to enable them to produce their own virtual performances of the piece while restrictions continue.”
