The first Christmas gig will be held for those who have experienced homelessness as Cardiff continues to have a serious issue with homelessness in the city

It is 6pm on a cold and starry Tuesday night in December. The rehearsal session is about to begin. The volunteers gather around carefully placing their fresh cup of tea on the floor while Iori guides them through the vocal warm-ups before they sing ‘Its beginning to Look a lot like Christmas’ by Michael Bublé.

With Christmas approaching, these sessions will be more vital than ever for the homeless and who have gone through homelessness. Cardiff reported to have the highest number of people assessed as homeless. Choir with No Name brings the volunteers together to forget about the hardships of homelessness for a couple of hours.

Choir with No Name will hold their first Christmas gig on 10 December at St John The Baptist City Parish Church in Cardiff city centre.

According to Statistics Wales, Cardiff reported to have 1,788 households assessed as homeless. The report also showed that in Wales, 91.0 cases per 10,000 households were assessed as homeless in 2022-23. There is an increase on the rate of almost 85 cases per 10,000 households reported in 2021-22.

During Tuesday sessions, the choir manager Oona Terille and choir director Iori of Choir with No Name Cardiff welcome the volunteers and guide them through the songs. They are held every Tuesday in Grangetown from 6pm to 7:30pm, there are free meals provided to the attendees post-session.

The sessions are filled with variety genres of music such as pop, soul, rock and reggae etc. The choir runs in partnership with The Wallich, which is a Welsh homelessness and rough sleeping charity.

The importance of making connections

The choir is called Choir With No Name because it’s about the people who are not recognised by society, just made invisible

As the Tuesday sessions are spent guiding the volunteers through the songs helping them bond with one another, Choir with No Name is helping volunteers like Gayle and Peterson discover the joy of making connections.

Gayle is one the first volunteers to join Cardiff’s Choir with No Name three years ago. “I’ve got to be here every Tuesday. My Tuesday is clear for choir night, and it’s just so exciting, Everybody’s like friends.”

According to a research by Royal Society Open Science, group singing helps people connect with each other quickly and works as a great icebreaker between people. It also showed that community singing is effective for bonding large groups.

Amanda Pope is a mental health councillor and owner of the practice Cardiff Holistic Counselling & Psychotherapy who shares insights on the importance of forming social connections. The 60-year-old also said that people need those connections and they need to be with other people as well as be able to talk to each other.

Timothy Peterson is a volunteer in the choir, who said: “In a choir, people of varying abilities can all get together and sound good. It’s really emotional actually when you’re singing with your friends.”

Finding shelter in a song

During each session, those who are present at the session get to choose their favorite song from the music booklet and then are sung with everyone in the room together. According to the statistics by Crisis, 45% of people experiencing homelessness have been diagnosed with a mental health issue. Crisis is a national UK charity for people experiencing homelessness.

To Iori, it is all about giving people a safe space to be themselves. He said “To hopefully either forget about any difficulties they’ve got in life or any trouble that they’re going through, or to speak to someone who’s going through the same thing.”

Peterson said that Choir with No Name means a great deal to him because when he used to be homeless years ago when he was in London. The 60-year-old said people at the sessions are treated like real human beings. After the session, the choir director Iori and choir pianist Teague join the attendees and hold a conversation with them during meal times.

“The choir is called Choir With No Name because it’s about people who are not recognized by society, just made invisible.” Peterson said.

Kevin John joined the choir in January this year. Sharing his experience of being homeless, he said: “Back in 1980-ish, I went to Swansea to work and there was a time when I went there for a job and I ended up with no money at all, I couldn’t afford to eat, so I went to other places.”

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How the choir will help during festive season

Benjamin Teague, the musical director, both have professional background in music. The volunteers will be singing the Christmas classics. Between January and March 2023 in the annual anonymous member survey, 85% said choir gave them an increased sense of purpose and 84% said choir helped them feel less lonely.

Peterson said it gives singing in a Christmas gig gives people powerful and positive energy and the volunteers get that even during rehearsals, but much more in a concert because the audience responds to them and it makes them feel good.

Benjamin Teague, the musical director of the choir shared: “I think we’re offering something or preserving that tradition through what we’re doing here.”

With the positive responses from the attendees of Choir with No Name, the effects of community singing has been increasingly encouraging. the impact of Choir with No Name makes a difference by making the homeless and those who have gone through homelessness feel recognized in society. These weekly sessions help the attendees develop a sense of purpose and make friendships through singing. The first Christmas gig amplifies their sense of togetherness and engagement in choir to spend a meaningful time during Christmas season.