2014 saw the Caldicot Male Voice Choir, its associated cycle club Côr Meibion Caldicot Cycle Club and the Birdie Boys Golf Society busying themselves with several events to raise funds for a very worthy cause, Prostate Cymru.
The year kicked off with a table top sale at the Choir Hall in January, raising over £300 followed by the Cycle club undergoing an endurance ride around the wet and windy marshes of Redwick in which over 1000 miles was covered by the fifteen or so cyclists who took part to raise about £600. If that wasn’t enough, choir members of the cycling club and guest riders endured 3 days of hard riding from Fishguard to Caldicot in July to raise about £5000 for the charity.
An Open Evening was also held at the hall, where members of the public are invited to visit us to hear us practice and give a short concert. Entry to our Opening evenings is free but all we ask is a donation to the chosen charity. Another £150 was raised.
Choristers and guests of the Birdie Boys then held a sponsored golf tournament at the St Pierre Resort near Chepstow in September which raised about £600. The final event of the year was a Quiz Night at the Choir Hall in late October to raise yet another £400.
Many other donations were also made through the choir’s Just Giving web site link to contribute significantly to the fund raising effort.
The final result was that Mark Stocker, chairman of Caldicot Male Voice Choir was able, on January 26th 2015 at the Choir Hall in Mill Lane Caldicot to present Andy Thomas, senior urology consultant at Bridgend Hospital and President of Prostate Cymru and former chorister Dai John with a cheque for £8000 representing the total amount raised. This included a further £500 directly from the Cycle Club’s own fund raising efforts and sponsorship.
Andy and Dai expressed their sincere thanks on behalf of Prostate Cymru for the inspiring efforts of all concerned and indicated that the money raised will help to train 5 surgeons to use the new Da Vinci robotic surgical procedures recently introduced into the University of Wales Hospital in Cardiff as a result of Prostate Cymru funding. This equipment, the first to be installed in Wales will enable a greater successful outcome for men suffering from prostate cancer. Please click on the link Prostate Cymru to visit the web site.
Everyone involved; choir members, cycle and golf club supporters and all those who donated should feel justly proud of a magnificent achievement.
The Choir’s chosen charities for 2015 are to try to raise enough to buy Annalese, a local four year old suffering from FOP to buy a new purpose built bed and Sparkle a Newport based charity which supports severely handicapped children and those with learning difficulties or social problems to achieve a more rewarding life. More details to follow.