Neighbours hold community sing-alongs during lockdown
Neighbours in the Canton area of Cardiff have started a weekly sing-along to raise spirits during the lockdown.
Primary school teacher Eoghan Walsh helped set up the group, Canton Community Singers.
Every Friday at 6:30pm, someone from the group leads a music session, which is streamed live on Facebook.
Eoghan said his neighbour, Miranda Webb, came up with the idea but when she started developing coronavirus symptoms, she asked him to take over.
Since then, Miranda has recovered, and the group has been receiving lots of positive feedback.
Eoghan said one person told him the sing-alongs are "the highlight of [their] week.”
Eoghan said that since the lockdown, the main part of his work now is assigning tasks to pupils online, marking, and checking on vulnerable pupils.
He said he has also had to come up with creative ways to engage them, for example, by starting a podcast with him reading a book that they were previously reading in class.
He said: "Because I'm a teacher, it's been easy to communicate with local families about the sing-along. I share the message with parents and then they tell their neighbours."
Eoghan said they were inspired by Italians singing from their balconies and wanted to do something similar here in Wales.
Different people have been encouraged to host the sessions each week. Recently, Eoghan asked his friend Gareth Bonello to take over. Gareth is a Welsh Music Prize winning folk singer, whose stage name is The Gentle Good.
Gareth would usually be performing at festivals in the summer but now all of his work has been cancelled until September.
He said the pandemic has caused his outlook to "completely change".
"It's encouraged me to think more about working online.
"I've started fundraising with the campaign group Tarian Cymru."
Gareth said for his session, he wanted to choose songs that were familiar and uplifting.
"I went for Stand By Me because everyone can get on board with the message, Hello Sunshine to include a Welsh song by the Super Furry Animals and finally Summer of '69. That’s one that if people have pent up energy, they can get rid of it and have a momentary release from everything.”
Read more of our Welsh Music From Home series: