A CWMBRAN man has raised more than £1,300 for the town's Congress Youth Theatre after singing a daily Carol of the Day and sharing it on social media.
Wayne Beecham has been the musical director of the youth group for 30 years and supported young people to sing, dance and act in many stage productions.
He started doing a Carol of the Day on Facebook in 2009 but the format has changed several times, and now his daily videos feature him singing and playing the piano.
Mr Beecham told Cwmbran Life: "In 2009 I started choosing a carol each day of December leading up to Christmas and putting the lyrics up on Facebook. Friends would comment and share memories of the carol in question.
"A couple of days in a friend asked if I could put up the words to It Was On A Starry Night, so I did.
"From there people started requesting their favourite carols and each day I would choose a carol that had been nominated and put the lyrics up. I then started asking in October each year for people to nominate their favourite carols."
Carol of the Day continued every year, raising money for a number of charities. And in 2018 Mr Beecham stepped it up a gear, and started uploading videos.
"The series of videos that followed that year were full of props and were all filmed last minute and were funny because they were so rough around the edges and ridiculous," he said.
"The 2019 series was also pre-recorded and each day I appeared in a different Christmas jumper sat in a cosy chair in front of a roaring fire backdrop. This was the first year that I started singing the carols with my own voice and not miming to other recordings."
When the Covid-19 pandemic risked putting a stop to people's Christmas celebrations in 2020, Mr Beecham realised a bit of festive cheer was needed more than ever. With the Congress Theatre - where Mr Beecham has worked since 1993 - closed for live performances, he recorded 25 videos at the venue in a marathon 14-hour session.
That year also featured a special bloopers video broadcast at 3.10pm on Christmas Day - just after the Queen's Speech.
Watch Wayne sing The Little Drummer Boy
In 2022 Mr Beecham decided that broadcasting live on Facebook was the way forward, and since then Carol of the Day has been live on Facebook at 8am every day in December.
"Originally it was strictly traditional carols that were used but I have since relaxed the rule and I do include some well-known Christmas songs if they are requested," he said. "I'm more than happy to include some Wham, Aled Jones and who doesn't love a bit of Cliff Richard at Christmas?
"Since asking for donations Carol of the Day has raised quite a few thousand pounds for various charities including for dementia and cancer. This year I have been asking for donations for a charity closer to home and to my heart, The Congress Youth Theatre."
The money raised from this year's appeal will go towards the youth theatre's production of Evita in March 2024 at the Congress Theatre.
To make a donation visit http://tinyurl.com/4344jhct
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