The Cardiff and Vale Aphasia-Friendly Choir project is part of a novel and innovative collaboration between the NHS Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, Cardiff Metropolitan University and Chroma, and is supported by the Bevan Commission through the Bevan Fellows programme. This choir is a continuation of Cardiff and Vale’s award-winning inpatient aphasia-friendly choir, which to our knowledge, was the first of its kind in Wales.
The choir aims to empower individuals with aphasia and other neurologically related communication difficulties by creating an inclusive space where participants can work toward therapeutic goals through music and singing, while enhancing participants’ well-being, confidence, and social participation. The project also supports student development by providing hands-on experience for speech and language therapy and music therapy students, helping them build skills in communication therapy, leadership, and inter-professional collaboration. In addition, it advances research by exploring the benefits of choir participation for people with communication difficulties and identifying barriers to participation to improve engagement, accessibility, and overall effectiveness.
We are extremely grateful to the Tavistock Trust for Aphasia for their ongoing support. Highlights from the last year include choir members worked with the music therapist to reflect on their experiences of living with a communication difficulty. Using their words, the music therapist developed song lyrics with ongoing feedback from the choir, later collaborating with local singer-songwriter Richard F. Jackson to create the song “Give Me Time.” The choir performed the song at the Cardiff Metropolitan Christmas Carol Service at Llandaff Cathedral on Friday 12th December 2025.
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