Glasgow Cathedral shines at our annual carol concert

A night of celebration, festive songs and reflection was enjoyed by all at our sold out annual Christmas Carol Concert in Glasgow yesterday.

Glasgow Cathedral was wonderfully lit for the occasion as guests were treated to performances from three choirs, including CrossReach’s very own Makaton Choir.

Opening just before 7pm in the cathedral, which is the oldest building in Glasgow and Scotland’s oldest cathedral, guests were welcomed with several stalls showcasing some of what our CrossReach services have to offer including some wonderful paintings from our Heart for Art service which is designed to promote creativity, self worth and achievement for older people with dementia.

The concert itself began at 7pm with host, and CrossReach board member, Rev David Nicolson getting proceedings underway.

Guests were given a welcome speech by CrossReach CEO Viv Dickenson who spoke of her joy at seeing so many people at the event, as well as highlighting some of the challenges faced by CrossReach at the moment.

We also heard from Rev Mark Johnston, of Glasgow Cathedral, who told us a bit about the historic significance of the building as well as expressing his joy at seeing the place so full.

Guests all joined together to sing ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ before being introduced to the first choir of the night.

Merchant Voices Choir was formed in 2006 and are a community based choir from the centre of Glasgow.

They performed six songs on the night including festive favourites ‘White Christmas’ and ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’. 

We also heard from Thom, a pupil at Erskine Waterfront Campus, who told us about how the school, which offers support to children with additional support needs, has helped him on his educational journey, as well as service users Ryan and Ciaran from GO2, a day care service supporting young people with disabilities to take part in community activities.

Guests were also spoken to by David Logan who told of his inspiring story of his journey from going through rehab with CrossReach in Glasgow to now working for the organisation. He spoke of how coming to CrossReach helped him turn his life around.

The second choir of the night were CrossReach’s Makaton Choir from Threshold Glasgow, which supports at home and day opportunities for adults with learning disabilities throughout Glasgow.. They joined the Merchant Choir on stage for performances of ‘Hark the Herald’ and ‘Calypso’ before the evening broke for an interval.

After the interval, the final choir of the night, Strathclyde University Choir, took to the stage.

Founded in 1980, the choir is made up of a mix of international and local students, alumni, staff and others. They performed six songs for guests including a Scottish premiere of the song ‘Glory be to the Word’.

Our other guest speakers on the night were CrossReach’s Director for Older People Services, Alan Logan, who spoke about the work CrossReach does with the older population. He also spoke of the alarming rise in the number of people across the globe living with dementia, putting into context the challenge faced with caring for those living with the condition. 

Finally, we heard from the chair of the CrossReach board, Mike Cantlay, who thanked guests for their support.

He said: “This evening’s concert has been delivered ‘with love from CrossReach. 

“I hope you’ve been touched by that love this evening. The fabulous 1,700 staff at CrossReach and all our volunteers and friends provide that loving Christian care to people all day everyday and I’d like to thank you for coming and supporting us this evening.”

Mr Cantlay thanked all the guest speakers on the night as well as those involved in organising the evening.

We spoke with a few guests after the event, with each giving the concert praise.

One person said: “It was a really lovely service, the choirs put on a great show and the speakers were all inspiring.”

Another added: “We came along tonight after hearing about the evening through our church. We wanted to find out a little bit more about CrossReach and we certainly did tonight.”

One family told us: “We came along after we heard a lot of good things about the music from previous years and we weren’t disappointed! It was also inspiring to hear from some of the young people on stage too.”