Charity single helps city's young people

A local indie band, featuring Justin Hendy from Gower College Swansea’s MIS department, teamed up recently with Swansea Young Single Homeless Project (SYSHP) to release a special limited edition Christmas single called ‘Winter Warmer’.

All proceeds from the single by Broken Fires will go to SYSHP to purchase packs of basic household items for young people starting out on their own for the first time.

Broken Fires also organised a very special show in support of the single at the Square Peg Coffee House in Sketty on 23 December.

“We were very fortunate to have support from Enterprise student Lorna Rees, who performed her original songs,” says Justin. “Lorna is currently studying Music Tech at the Gorseinon campus and is working with Enterprise Officer Lucy Turtle to organise more events. This was a superb opportunity for Lorna to showcase her material and support an extremely worthy cause.”

“The response to the Christmas gig has been outstanding and Broken Fires have raised £1253 for SYSHP,” adds Lucy. “Broken Fires and Lorna would like to thank everyone who donated, attended the Christmas show, bought the single and created the artwork for the single.

SYSHP’s vision is of a society where young people are valued for the contributions that they make; where they are the solution and not the problem. A Swansea charity set up to provide practical and emotional support to young people, some of whom have faced many challenges in their lives, SYSHP provides accommodation, support and advice. Last year alone, SYSHP supported 236 young people, 79 within SYSHP’s own temporary accommodation.

Massive thanks to Square Peg Coffee, Bethan Elfyn and Huw Stevens for giving ‘Winter Warmer’ a spin on BBC Radio Wales, David Owens (Wales Online) and A Musical Priority (@showcasewales) for adding ‘Winter Warmer’ single to their playlists.