Singing the praises of volunteers

A Cavan based fundraiser is singing songs of praise following an impressive and successful three-day festival last weekend.

SingForMe opened last Friday, August 25, in Blessings Bar, Cavan, to raise awareness about mental health and funds for various support organisations.

Speaking about the weekend's success, event organiser Leanne Coyle said: “It was a good weekend, it was fantastic. Everybody was so impressed by the festival and how welcoming it was.”

While funds raised have yet to be counted, Leanne expects they will be in line with the past number of years.

Kicking off the event at around 6pm on Friday night were bands including The Dish, Ribly, Leon Jermyn, Face of the Earth, Redemption, Shark School, and the headliners of the night, The Jobseekerz.

“Friday night had more of the bands from around the country. It was fantastic, it was the first year we’ve had bands from outside Cavan. It was so lovely to have them down."

The second night was very much Rock focused.

Thinner Lizzy, a Thin Lizzy cover band headlined the night's events, supported by other bands including Mudd Wizard, Cult of Heresy, The Savage Hearts, Mirrorglass, Priorland and Conroy.

“They were really, really excellent.”

Sunday’s acts were mainly Cavan based, and featured Big Generator, Amble, Davie, KCD, Faith Hargreaves, 80’s Disco and Gypsy and the fool.

“Sunday was more acoustic. At the end of the night we had Big Generator who were absolutely brilliant, they were out of this world.”

SingForMe was set up in 2018, following Leanne’s battle with her own mental health.

Organisers invited representatives from local and national mental health support services to attend the festival and provide information to attendees in a relaxed and social atmosphere.

“On Saturday we had the mental health services in from Cavan like Teach Oscail, Sosad and Early Intervention. Saturday was very busy."

Leanne praised volunteers for their input, highlighted how many performers and attendees commented on “how well it was run".

She generously gives the credit to the volunteers. “They work so well together. Without them, it would not have gone half as well as it did. There was a team of about eight to ten," said Leanne.

"The past five years of SingForMe have proven to be a tremendous success, with the festival getting bigger and better each year," she added.

Leanne thanked everyone who helped make the festival happen from the bands that played, the photographers, as well as the people who supported it on the night. Other volunteers included Michael O'Brien, sound engineer and Dmitri McEvoy and Nathan Daly on lights.

The beneficiary of this year's festival is Cian’s Kennels in Ballymahon, Co Longford, which doesn't receive any government funding. It is a charitable organisation set up in March 2020 in memory of Cian Neary, aimed at providing kennelling facilities close to the children’s hospital in Dublin.

Leanne now has her sights set on SingForMe 2024, which she hopes will be even bigger and better than before.

"We're going to start organising next year's in the next week or two. That way there's no rush. We want it to keep growing, we want bigger acts to come. Hopefully we'll get funding next year, that's what we're going to push for now.”