Fundraising concert and auction

A fundraising concert and auction in aid of the Wales Air Ambulance will take place at Llangadog Community Hall next month.

The fundraising event, which is being organised by Beth Davies from Llanwrda, will offer guests a chance to enjoy a variety of different talents, including music from Joy Cornock, Rhiannon O’Connor and “Ar Wasgar”.

The evening will see an auction take place on items that have kindly been donated from many local businesses and individuals. The auctioneer for the fundraiser will be Llyr Thomas, from Pontarddulais, who works at Huw Evans Auctioneers and studies at Coleg Sir Gar.

The concert will take place on Saturday, 20 November at 7:30pm.

After receiving her entrance scholarship in 2004, Joy O’Connor entered The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. She was awarded The Mabel Linwood Christopher Award, The Lyn Davies Vocal Studies prize and The Aneurin Davies Memorial Award. Joy has performed with The Welsh National Youth Opera and taken part in many operatic roles, now a regular soloist around the UK, Spain, Germany and Ireland. 

She made her debut performance as harpist and soloist at The Wales Millennium Centre as part of The Young Farmers Federation 60th Gala Concert and has travelled to Vancouver to perform at The Vancouver Welsh Society.

Beth, said: “We have some exceptional talent on board for the evening, Joy is a very talented young lady, native to Fishguard, Pembrokeshire having performed alongside recognised choirs Morriston Orpheus Male Voice Choir, Dunvant, Llanelli, Morriston RFC, Fishguard choirs, Lativia Radio Choir as well as The Ammanford Choral Society.”

She continued: “Rhiannon O’Connor is another of our artists for the evening, another very talented young lady from Ffarmers. Rhiannon is a singer/songwriter who plays guitar and is in great demand, she has performed at The Big Cwtch Family Festival, Rhiannon covers folk, acoustic Welsh and English.

“We also have on board “Ar Wasgar“, a male vocal group made up from young farmers, originally from the Pumpsaint area, some now having moved around Carmarthenshire. They have been singing together for over ten years having started via The YFC, they sing a variety of songs from musicals to Dafydd Iwan.”

Wales Air Ambulance offers advanced critical care and is often described as a ‘Flying ED’. The on-board consultants and critical care practitioners are highly skilled and carry some of the most pioneering medical equipment in the world. They can deliver blood transfusions, administer anaesthesia and undertake emergency operations at the scene of the incident, before flying the patient directly to specialist care. 

Reflecting on why she wanted to raise funds for the Wales Air Ambulance, Beth Davies, said: “Living in a rural community it is never far away from thought that we could find ourselves needing the support and services of this essential organisation at any time and they are available for us 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year, even throughout Covid and lockdown. The Wales Air Ambulance has continued to provide the people of Wales with their unwavering, commendable service and this event is our community’s way of saying thank you and expressing our gratitude even during such difficult times.”

Katie Macro, Wales Air Ambulance Community Fundraiser coordinator, said: “Thank you to Beth for organising what sounds like a terrific concert for the public to enjoy. Your time and effort in planning the event has been much appreciated. Our appreciation also goes to the amazing talented musicians, performers and auctioneer who will be performing on the night free of charge. Thank you to everyone who has support Beth in arranging the concert and for donating prizes. You’re all helping save lives across Wales. We hope everyone enjoys the concert and auction.”

Tickets are priced at £7 and are available to purchase via Beth on 07788 810464 or can be purchased from Aaron at Post Datum in Llandovery, Radcliff’s Llandovery, Morgan’s Newsagents, Llangadog, The Limes Stores, Llangadog or via Gina Deering at Llandovery Rugby Club.

Beth would like to say a huge thank you to the performers who will be performing free of charge and Aaron at Post Datum for printing the tickets and posters completely free of charge.

There are several ways that the public can continue to support the Wales Air Ambulance. These include online donations, signing up to the Charity’s Lifesaving Lottery or by coming up with their own innovative ways to fundraise at home. Further information can be found via www.walesairambulance.com. 

Alternatively, a £5 text-message donation can be made by texting the word HELI to 70711.