Swansea Orchestra drums up support for health board charity’s fundraising appeal 

The money, collected during the orchestra’s Christmas concert in St Mary’s Church, Swansea, has been handed over to Swansea Bay’s Health Charity’s Cwtsh Clos Appeal.

The aim of the appeal is to raise £160,000 to refurbish five homes away from home for families with sick and tiny babies in Singleton’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

Orchestra leader, Jenny McAdie, said:

“We do two concerts a year, one in the summer and one at Christmas with a primary school as special guests. 

“We usually pick a charity that we want to have a collection for at the end of the concert – this year it was Swansea Bay’s Cwtsh Clos Appeal.

“It was personal to one of our members, Libby Langlands, and we thought it was good cause to have a collection for.’

“We raised just over £500 through the collection but I work for Lloyd’s Banking Group and we have a matched funding scheme – they can match up to £500 each year for any money raised for a registered charity. So it was just over £1,000 in all.”

Libby, who has seen both her son, Pip, and daughter, Hazel, spend time in different NICUs, said the Cwtsh Clos Appeal was close to her heart.

“My son was born in 2015 and was in Singelton Hospital’s NICU for a couple of days, just to stabilise him, after a difficult birth.

“My family live quite close but I know that Cwtsh Clos is all about having immediate family support on hand for those who live quite far away – it’s so important.

“I have experience of staying in family accommodation in Southampton – so it’s a cause that’s very close to my heart.

“My daughter was born with a heart condition in 2013, while we were living in Salisbury but she was blue-lighted down to Southampton NICU. We spent the first month of her life in parental accommodation down there, and know how important that is.”

As soon as Libby heard about Swansea singer songwriter Mal Pope – whose grandson spent time in Singleton’s NICU – agreeing to be an ambassador for the appeal, she asked the orchestra to support the cause.

“When I first heard about it and saw Mal Pope’s story it chimed with me and took me back to those times. I thought, here’s an opportunity to do something really valuable, and luckily the orchestra agreed to go ahead and do that.

“We had really great support from Sketty Primary School choir and all of the parents and families who came to watch the concert and were able to raise money for the campaign.”

Cathy Stevens, the charity’s fundraising officer, said:

“We truly appreciate the support from the orchestra and I was delighted to attend their concert.  

“It was a wonderful event and a great opportunity to thank everyone present. Fundraising efforts like this are crucial to our cause, and we are grateful to Libby for sharing her story to further our appeal.”

You can support the Cwtsh Clos Appeal by visiting our JustGiving page for Cwtsh Clos here, where you will find more information.

[Lead image: Swansea Bay University Health Board]

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