When serious illness strikes, medical care treats the body—but what happens to the emotional turmoil left behind in the quiet? At Daring to Dream, we believe that supporting the emotional health of the 1.2 million adults in Wales living with physical illness is as vital as their clinical treatment.Please join our trustees for our annual event on Tuesday 10th November at the Wales Millennium Centre. It is completely free to attend, and it will be a warm, soul-stirring morning dedicated to...

A dedicated group of runners will put their best feet forward this weekend for their fourth consecutive Cardiff Half Marathon as Team Amy, honouring the legacy of their late friend and raising vital funds for Welsh emotional health charity Daring to Dream. Amy Penn, from Newport, South Wales, was just 21 when she died in June 2021. Born with congenital heart disease, she spent long periods in hospital throughout her life. Her experiences shaped a commitment to supporting other young adults...

Daring to Dream completed its first-year check-in report for the Postcode Community Lottery Funding. To be awarded a £50,000 grant last year from them was incredible. It signifies their faith & belief in our focus, work and impact on emotional health which is essential to: Helping the 1.2 million adults in Wales living with illness to live as well as possible Acting as a buffer for all of us to prevent mental illness. It signifies their faith & belief in us as an organisation, a small...

Today I uploaded to the Charity Commission’s portal and to Daring to Dream’s website, our latest Annual Report and Accounts. Taking stock: Anyone who is chair or treasurer of a charity understands that this is a monumental piece of work and an important opportunity to stop and reflect on performance, achievements, progress, impact, assess plans, strategy, monitor financial spend and income. Daring to Dream Charity Single – Here Together For Trustees The Annual Report & Accounts is the...

Delighted to share Daring to Dream is a finalist in the 2026 Mental Health & Wellbeing Wales Awards in the Inspirational Charitable Organisation category. The winners will be announced at the Mental Health & Wellbeing Wales Awards & Conference on Friday 9th October, just ahead of World Mental Health Day. The event will once again at the Mercure Holland House Hotel and the conference and awards will take place from 10:00am – 4:00pm. It will be a real celebration of so many people...

Delighted to share that Daring to Dream is a nominee in the Welsh Charity Awards 2026! Daring to Dream – the emotional (not mental) health charity Last week (28 July 2026) was our 6th birthday at Daring to Dream – a huge, huge, milestone. From a lofty concept, begun in the pandemic, with no budget, no staff, no narrative, let alone clarity, the charity has evolved its mission & delivery with a compelling narrative, track record, and partnerships to support the emotional health of the 1.2...

We are seeking a self-employed Senior Associate to work directly with our Founder/CEO to scale our impact across Wales. Daring to Dream supports the emotional health and wellbeing of 1.2 million adults in Wales living with chronic illness. Help us transition from founder-led operations into a sustainable, nationwide delivery team. Want to know more about what we do? Please watch our charity single Here Together to find out more.💼 The Role at a Glance: Type: Freelance / Self-employed Fee:...

Friday night was lovely. Our annual Ball is now one of our established ‘engagement events’ – all about catching up with old friends, meeting new ones, and celebrating achievements and raising some funds to help us create more Spaces to Sing and Spaces to Talk. Hilton Cardiff did us proud, Tenovus Cancer Care Cardiff Sing with Us Choir were fantastic. We were saddened that Bethany Handley could not, for health reasons, join us but Leigh Manley did her and us all proud. Thank you Leigh.Lylia...

Nearly 48% of adults in Wales, around 1.2 million people, live with at least one longstanding condition and a Welsh charity says the emotional impact of this is still not widely understood or supported. Daring to Dream – the Emotional Health Charity, says its 2026 Ball & Auction in Cardiff on Friday June 12, 2026, is a vital moment in highlighting this often-overlooked side of living with illness.Barbara ChidgeyBethany HandleyJason HarroldThe event not only celebrates the strength and...

This a guest blog by Tom Wood, one of our Advisory Network: For those that have worked with me, you will know that in my own way I support a small number of charities that make a big difference to the communities in which they operate, and Daring to Dream - the Emotional Health Charity is one of those. Barbara Chidgey and the team have been building something quietly extraordinary.Bethany HandleyLylia Young and Ffion ParryThe charity supports the emotional (not mental) health of adults in...

Daring to Dream is delighted to have a committed and growing network of Ambassadors. Our ambassadors each act as a champion for the charity, help spread the word about the charity’s work within their communities, creating new community partnerships to increase awareness and support events and income generating campaigns. The support of our ambassadors is so important to Daring to Dream. We are extremely grateful to each of them for the skills and commitment they bring to the charity and...

Daring to Dream, the charity that supports the emotional health and wellbeing for those living with long-term physical health conditions, has launched its first official charity single Here Together. The emotive song is written and performed by Bridgend College music student Lylia Young, who regularly takes part in the charity’s ‘Spaces to Sing’ sessions at Princess of Wales Hospital, bringing live music to the patients, their families, carers, and staff on the Care for the Elderly and...

Daring to Dream, partnered with Cranfield Trust to strengthen its long-term sustainability. With support from an experienced volunteer consultant, we have developed a robust business plan and financial forecast to transition from founder-led delivery to a more resilient operational structure. The project has positioned Daring to Dream for sustainable growth, stronger governance and expanded impact across Wales. We completed a soft but important re-brand as part of the process. We became Daring...

Around 1.2 million adults in Wales – almost half of the adult population – are living with illness, meaning nearly every family, street, workplace and community is touched by illness in some way, highlighting the urgent importance of emotional health support. Lleswyl 2026, Daring to Dream’s free, inclusive festival event was streamed live from 7pm on Friday 20 February 2026 – making visible five years of work and impact by the charity and reaching out to all those for whom going to live gigs...

In November 2025, we finally brought together the refurbishment of the Dayroom in Acute Care for the Elderly. Daring to Dream, together with senior staff at Princess of Wales Hospital, were delighted to celebrate the opening of the Acute Care for the Elderly (ACE) dayroom at Princess of Wales Hospital on Thursday 29th January. A massive spike in infections meant we did need to hold our celebration online, but that didn’t dampen our spirits. Over the time of liaising with Princess of Wales...

Lleswyl 2026: Our first ever hybrid #Lleswyl will be live-streamed and broadcast live from 7pm on 20 February! Our first ever charity fundraising single will be revealed at #Lleswyl2026 Daring to Dream’s new charity single A track written especially by Lylia Young, a Bridgend College undergraduate music student. Lylia is part of a team of musicians who deliver Daring to Dream - the Emotional Health Charity’s ‘Space to Sing’ in wards at Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend.What an amazing...

Daring to Dream’s Charity Single After a pilot project, Daring to Dream has been providing fortnightly live music (our ‘Space to Sing’) for patients in Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend for most of 2025. We have a great team of musicians, undergraduates at Bridgend College, who we contract to lead these joyous sessions. Our ‘Space to Sing’ is for patients and their visitors on two ward areas: The Care for the Elderly patients, Wards 5 & 6, and The Dementia patients on Ward 15 Our...

We are the Emotional Health Charity and we are Daring to Dream Diolch yn fawr iawn In our bank account today has arrived the first year’s allocation from The Postcode Community Trust. On behalf of everyone at team Daring to Dream – a massive thank you for this. We were touched too by your feedback about our application and your wish that ‘this funding will have a big impact on your organisation and community’. We will do our utmost to ensure that this funding makes a huge difference. May we...

Sophie Howe, The First Future Generations Commissioner, in Wales and the World. Sophie was the world’s first Future Generations Commissioner. She was tasked with advocating for the interests of generations to come and holding public institutions accountable for delivering long-term change. Her support endorses Daring to Dream’s contribution to the Well-Being Goals in Wales. Sophie Howe is an advisor to governments, institutions and corporates on embedding wellbeing economics and future...

We were deeply saddened to hear last week of the passing of Lesley Meek, one of Daring to Dream’s very first committed supporters. A lovely lady, who loved her life, and lived it to the full, in spite of so much adversity arising from her congenital heart condition. We were privileged to have Lesley's support for our charity. She understood very well indeed, from firsthand experience of her own many hospital visits and stays, the importance of ‘spaces to talk’ for patients, their families and...

Yesterday, I spent a lot of the day in the Care for the Elderly Ward 5 Dayroom, as we ‘dressed’ the room, ensuring we created a ‘homely’, non-clinical and inviting space for patients and their families. Elderly patients can decondition within 24 hours In our short video clip below, Catherine Theron (Head of Nursing at Princess of Wales Hospital), describes the need for the Care for the Elderly (COTE) patients, who come into hospital with a multitude of conditions. The ward teams are aiming to...

We are The Emotional Health Charity - and we are Daring to Dream We had invited Sarah Murphy MS, Welsh Government Minister for Mental Health & Wellbeing to join us at our highly successful ‘Making Space to talk about Emotional Health and Living well with Illness’ last week, but her diary was already over committed. Instead, she kindly offered to support us with a video, which offer we accepted with alacrity, of course!Welsh Government’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy for 2025- 2035...

On 5 October, the streets of Cardiff were alive with energy, determination, and community spirit as over 27,000 runners took part in the Cardiff Half Marathon. Among the 27,000 were 10 remarkable individuals running not just for themselves, but for thousands of people across Wales who live every day with the emotional challenges arising from living with long-term illness. Beth, Ryan, Joe, Holly, Asia (Callum), Glyn, Scott, Steph amd Sarah They all took part in the Cardiff Half for Daring to...

Early in July, I was fortunate to be included in the line-up of speakers for TEDx Bute Street event which was sponsored by Rhianon Passmore MS. Thank you so much to the selection panel of Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE, Matthew Hyde and Chris J. Birch.A fantastic opportunity for me to talk about Daring to Dream on such an important platform and spread the word about #emotionalhealth and its importance for all of us living with #chronicillness. Our mission at Daring to Dream is: Supporting the...

Daring to Dream was delighted to welcome a visit from David Holdsworth, CEO of the Charity Commission, which took place at University Hospital of Wales this week. Jessica Williams, Policy and Wales Stakeholder Manager for the Charity Commission, joined him on the visit. Daring to Dream trustees (Barbara Chidgey, John Chown and Nav Masani) were supported by Kindre Morgan and Sarah Finch (specialist nurses from the Adult Congenital Heart Disease team). It was lovely to meet both David and Jess,...

Thank you for your support of Daring to Dream's Space to Sing for the Care for the Elderly and Dementia Patients at Princess of Wales Hospital Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board. Seren and Ffion will be back in a couple of weeks, following a short summer break, with their fortnightly sessions for the patients there. They not only bring music, they bring joy, smiles, evoke memories and help patients connect with each other and their families. It is a joy to be part of. Do please watch...

November 2024, the founding trustees of Daring to Dream, Barbara Chidgey, John Chown, #NavMasani took a courageous and strategic decision to focus our efforts on just two major things throughout 2025: Continued quality delivery of our established charitable activities and Making significant progress in implementing our primary strategic goal: 'Building a resilient and sustainable organisation' The most challenging step: Daring to Dream is taking the most challenging step in any organisation's...

Such a boost to get a lovely email from 2025 Mental Health & Wellbeing Wales Awards to tell us that Daring to Dream are finalists! Inspirational Charitable Organisation "We are delighted to inform you that Daring to Dream have been shortlisted as a finalist for the Mental Health & Wellbeing Wales Awards 2025 in the category of Inspirational Charitable Organisation." Daring to Dream is the emotional (not mental) health charity Not many charities talk about #emotionalhealth and its...

Daring to Dream wishes to give a heartfelt thankyou to Jenny Hibbert and her Bridgend Camera Club colleagues. As the Care for the Elderly patients finally move into their new ‘home’ in Wards 5 & 6 at Princess of Wales Hospital, the Camera Club team have replenished our stock of local photos. They are wonderful! Amazing photos of local sites including the iconic Coney Island Fun Fair, open for its very last season. Jenny herself took the photo below of the bridge at Bryngarw. Wall...

Yesterday I got an unexpected but very welcome email from Rachel Bran, Senior Sister at the Leri Cancer Unit in Bronglais Hospital. Rachel was keen to provide another update on the use and value of the Bluebell Room in the unit; the room Daring to Dream had collaborated with Hywel Dda University Health Board to help bring about in the refurbed outpatients unit. “We are enjoying the Bluebell Room so much, it is going to be used for Cancer Counselling service 2 days a week as well as being used...

Friday 13 June at Hilton Cardiff was a wonderful evening, as we wished Engaging, happy, full of warmth and kindness, strengthening ‘old’ relationships, starting new ones, raising awareness, and raising funds. Importantly celebrating Amy Penn’s life and legacy with her family. Daring to Dream taking another huge step forward. Hosted by the fabulous Jason Harrold Host and Compere, with the amazing Choirs For Good Cardiff, we all enjoyed an excellent meal, good company and our auction, which...

This Friday at Hilton Cardiff we hold our annual Daring to Dream Ball & Auction. We are really excited about our forthcoming evening. It is a great chance to get together with so many who support our work and believe in the importance of emotional health as an enabler to living well with illness. For our fundraising we are putting young adults in Wales living with illness in the spotlight. Highlighting their need to talk about their own emotional responses to illness, celebrating the many...

Our second briefing event took place in Senedd Cymru, on 26 March, sponsored by Julie Morgan MS and supported by Sarah Murphy MS, Welsh Government Minister for Mental Health & Wellbeing. Jason Harrold was our MC. Julie Morgan opened the event, with Barbara Chidgey speaking next positioning the emotional health agenda as a critical element to prevent mental illness. Other contributors were Dr Jen Daffin on behalf of Hapus, Public Health Wales and Platfform Wellbeing. Nav Masani, our...

The 2025 Daring to Dream Ball & Auction is supporting the emotional health and wellbeing of young adults in Wales living with illness. The funds raised will support initiatives that help create spaces to talk, such as singing and writing workshops, supercars experience events, and our gift packages. Date: Friday 13 June 2025 at Hilton Cardiff Dress code: Formal and colourful Arrival, drinks reception: 19:00 Guests seated for 3 -course meal: 19:30 Event Details: The Ball will take place...

We are hugely grateful The National Lottery Community Fund supported our application for “Lleswyl 2025 and Beyond”. Their support is to ensure that Lleswyl is definitely not #foronenightonly but actually helps promote and encourage the development of small community based groups, ones that build friendships and support, and bring people living with illness together over a shared interest. One such community group who featured in #Lleswyl2025 are the Cwmbran Deaf Choir. As a charity, Daring to...

1.2 million adults live in Wales with at least one longstanding illness. 618,000 women in Wales live with at least one longstanding illness The 618,000 are all ages, live across all parts of Wales Irrespective of age, many endure extreme pain – night and day Irrespective of age, they endure ongoing treatments and new health challenges They lose friends, careers, hobbies, social life, mobility They start each day with determination and courage, to live their best, achieve their hopes and dreams...

Lleswyl 2025 is this Friday! Please spread the word amidst your family and friends! Huge thanks for your support!   Dear Friends - We’re excited to announce that Lleswyl 2025 is just around the corner! Please join Us for an Unforgettable Evening! Date: Friday, 21st February 2025Time: 7 PMLocation: YouTube Channel - Lleswyl 2025 Watch HereCost: Free! Fun! For Everyone! What is Lleswyl? The term "Lleswyl" translates to "Wellbeing Festival" in Welsh. This event is dedicated to supporting the...

Daring to Dream, the charity whose mission is to support the emotional health and wellbeing of adults in Wales living with physical illness, held its first formal briefing event - ‘Making space to talk about emotional health’. Opened by Sarah Murphy MS, Welsh Government Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing, the briefing was attended by patients, medical and health board staff, and representatives from many health charities. During the event, the charity’s founder and chair Barbara Chidgey...

I was so pleased and touched that Daring to Dream was a finalist in the #WelshCharityAwards in 'The Most Influential Small Organisation' category. For our work, progress and impact to be recognised as a finalist in this category is #absolutelyfabulous - our trustees and guests certainly enjoyed celebrating as finalists at the Awards Dinner on Monday 25th November at the National Museum of Wales. We so enjoyed hearing about 27 individuals and organisations that are making such a difference in...

The trustees of Daring to Dream, thank Ajuda and The Mental Health & Wellbeing Show and Awards for the selection of Daring to Dream as a finalist in the 2024 Awards. We are delighted to have been selected as a finalist in the 'Inspirational Charitable Organisation' category. Thank you so much to everyone for this recognition, which is much appreciated. The winners of each category will be announced at the Mental Health & Wellbeing Conference and Awards 2024 take place at the Mercure...

On behalf of the trustees of Daring to Dream, may I say a huge heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined us, sponsored the event, donated raffle or auction lots and generously bought tickets or bid for auction lots. It was a truly lovely evening – a room full of kind, compassionate, warm and friendly people from different walks of life; many themselves who joined us on Friday night are experiencing the daily reality of living with illness or a member of their family doing so together with the...

The Beechwood Park Community Group once again hosted their annual Music In The Park event on Sunday 7 July 2024. It was held in partnership with Newport City Radio and powered by Levelling Up and the National Lottery Community Fund Awards for All. A spokesperson for Music In The Park, said: "Starting at 2 pm, we enjoyed the soulful tunes of Robyn Benge. Followed by the dynamic sound of Retrospect  at 2:40. Ernie Emmanuel took to the stage about 3:40. We then rounded off the afternoon singing...

Fascinating article in The Guardian – in support of social health. Kasley Killam, MPH (a social health expert and author) states “Research has proven that social health – wellbeing that comes from connection – is as essential as food and water, but it is vastly underappreciated” “The problem with traditional health advice is that it overlooks one of the most important ingredients: human connection.” What is social health? Social health is the aspect of overall health and wellbeing that comes...

We are so pleased that Cobalt HR selected our live music project in the #CarefortheElderlyWards at #PrincessofWalesHospital Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board for their #generousdonation of £300. That donation is the cost of a full afternoon of live music, led by two professional musicians, across each of the three wards, for the patients. An afternoon of joy and smiles! Thank you so much Cobalt HR for your support. Daring to Dream obtained a £1,850 grant from Tŷ Cerdd - Music Centre...

Headlined by Afro Cluster, Lleswyl 2024 remains accessible to everyone, for free, on our YouTube channel of the same name. Lleswyl 2024 is: "A wonderful watch!" "I was really moved and impressed." “The balance of combining music and conversations worked so well and powerfully." "Lleswyl was a superb production." "It was entertaining, informative, educational, and polished." Everyone involved in the production of Lleswyl 2024 - Ratio Studios, all the hugely talented musicians, our hosts, and...

As the curtains draw to a close on Lleswyl 2024, I find myself filled with immense gratitude and a heart brimming with joy. Lleswyl, Daring to Dream’s Wellbeing Festival, has been nothing short of magical. It's been an evening filled with upliftment, joy, and unforgettable moments. As a member of the Ray of Light Warblers choir, I feel privileged to have been a part of this extraordinary experience. Our Choir would also like to express their gratitude for the opportunity to experience the...

We are delighted to announce that joining our hosts Sian Lloyd, Jason Harrold and Tumi Williams on the festival studio sofa, is Andrew Jenkins. Andrew can currently been seen on iplayer in the hit BBC1 reality TV show ‘The Traitors’, which aired throughout January 2024. In 1999, Andrew suffered a horrendous car accident at the age of 21. He was pronounced dead on the side of the road and then spent 4 weeks in a coma fighting for his life. Doctors told his family he had severe brain injury and...

How is Daring to Dream seeking to support the emotional health and wellbeing of adults in Wales living with physical illness?   Emotional space to talk about long-term health issues: Firstly, the charity raises awareness of the need to support emotional health of adults in Wales living with illness. We encourage everyone to give those we are close to, the space (literally) for them to talk about and express their emotions relating to diagnosis, treatments, and the daily impact of living...

Friday 23rd February, 19:00 – 22:00 … switch on our live-stream, assemble your loved-ones and make space to talk. A watch party is a social gathering where a group of people come together to watch something collectively – think Eurovision, the Oscars or even the season finale of an epic TV show – and now Lleswyl. The group might gather in person; in someone’s house, a care home, a theatre or a school. Alternatively, with the rise of streaming services and online communication platforms it...

Live-streamed by Daring to Dream to your home
Friday 23rd February 2024 – 19:00 – 22:00 For one night only in February, Daring to Dream will broadcast world-class musicians into homes around Wales, to create the ultimate at-home festival experience. They’ve secured bands who are regulars on the festival circuit – Green Man, Womad, Glastonbury and now Lleswyl! From the field to the front room, there are no worries about bad weather, poor catering, or the state of the toilets at Lleswyl! That’s...

Our 2023 Summer Ball & Auction on July 7th was a wonderfully successful night, which was not only fun but marked a step change in the charity’s development, with our first project within Cwm Taf Morgannwg’s health board. It was a celebratory, good fun and action-packed evening. Following a drinks reception our evening began with one of the amazing Sing With Us Choirs from Tenovus Cancer Care. They portray so well the joy and emotional ‘pick-me-up’ that music provides, as well as an...

With our ‘pick-me-up-packages’, we are also giving a gift card explain about the packages. The cards are printed on seed paper and we want to share the planting instructions for everyone: • In Spring or Summer, when it is warm, soak the paper in water and tear into small pieces • Place in a pot of compost and very lightly sprinkle more compost on top • Keep the soil and paper moist (but not soaking wet) in a warm and light environment • Once your small plants have grown, place the pot outside...

Join us for a fun, celebratory, musical, and fundraising evening, in support of the emotional health and wellbeing of young adults in Wales living with cancer. To buy your tickets, please contact: daringtodream@learningpathways.info or phone 07989 385114. Date: Friday 27 Sept 2024 (7 til late)Venue: voco St David’s Hotel, Cardiff Bay, CF10 5SDTickets: only £475.00 for a table of 10 or £49.50 eachDress code: formal and colourfulArrival & Drinks reception: 7pmGuests seated: 7.30pm Following...

Daring to Dream is currently working with the nursing team and Estates in the Care for the Elderly wards in the Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend, to transform both their patient day rooms. With three wards and up to 70 patients, at any time, in their care, the creation of inviting, comfortable, warm, and safe dayrooms, is essential to enable the ward teams to support even better the physical and emotional needs of their patients. Improved and inviting day rooms will enable staff to help...

Following Amy’s Ball last September we have been developing different ways of providing support for the emotional health and wellbeing of young adult cardiac patients under the care of staff teams at University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff. We are delighted to be able to announce that we are now about to pilot our gifts: ‘pick-me-up gift boxes’. We hope that is just what they will be – a lovely, surprise ‘pick-me-up’! Each gift box contains something to eat (tasty and non-allergenic crisps and...

The Postcode Community Trust recently awarded Daring to Dream an unrestricted funding grant of £11,700. We wish to thank not only the trust for allocating this grant, but also all the players who support their work by contributing to raising the funds that the trust then allocates. In these challenging financial times, their support is very much needed and even more appreciated. In order to achieve our key strategic goals, Daring to Dream’s charitable activities need underpinning services,...

Lleswyl 2023 had a new set, new bands, showcasing new charities, live guests, and even more partners – indeed, oh, what a night! Feedback has been fantastic with comments such as:"The diversity of acts was fantastic and the format worked really well.""The variety of music catering for all who attended""Loved the ‘on the sofa chats’, dancing and music ""Great range of diverse music, the presenters Sian and Jason were great and some of the stories were inspirational""Loved getting together with...

It is hoped a recent collaboration will be the first of many between the charity and project Daring to Dream, the charity that supports the emotional health and wellbeing of patients in Wales, has showcased the inspiring Hear Our Voices’ project run by Cwm Taf Morgannwg Regional Partnership Board in their highly successful wellbeing festival, Lleswyl 2023. The Hear Our Voices band was part of the line-up of the charity’s Lleswyl online festival and performed just some of the co-created stories...

We are delighted to announce that our treasurer John Chown has been shortlisted in not one but in two categories of the Institute Of Directors Wales Director of the Year Awards 2023. John has been shortlisted in the Non-Executive Director category and also in the Public / Third Sector Director category. The awards, in partnership with Cardiff Business School, seek to reward the successes of directors representing a wide spectrum of businesses, organisations and sectors the length and breadth...

Daring to Dream's online wellbeing festival, Lleswyl, is back and all you need to do is log in to https://www.lleswyl.com/ on your Smart TV, tablet or phone. Daring to Dream is encouraging those interested in music and dance to take advantage of free virtual festival to give people with life-limiting and chronic illnesses the chance to enjoy an evening of entertainment from the comfort of their own home. The festival, taking place on Friday, February 17 and hosted by broadcasters Sian Lloyd...

Lleswyl 2021 was an outstanding success. An excellent, dynamic, and engaging  evening delivered via a quality end-to-end digital production was. Amazing presenters, who were BSL interpreted, really pulled the evening together and brought it to light. Lleswyl 2021 did indeed shine a light on the need for emotional health and wellbeing support for those living with longstanding illness in Wales. It was an uplifting and joyous evening, with music as its catalyst, and drew on the power of music to...

As we come to the end of 2022 and look back, we can now really see & appreciate the impact of the grant for Daring to Dream from the Postcode Community Trust. We sought their support for essential core costs of Daring to Dream as well as some additional funds for us to extend our marketing and develop a contractual marketing relationship that would extend our reach and influence. When first setting up a charity, you really don’t think of those essential core costs that underpin everything...

Daring to Dream’s mission is to support the emotional health and wellbeing of adults living with physical illness in Wales. Why does this matter? It matters because we experience illness (and the impact of its treatments and interventions) physically and emotionally. The clinical teams provide us with great medical expertise and care, but in order to live as well as possible with the impact of physical illness and its treatments, then we need to also acknowledge our emotional responses to it....

Daring to Dream is the first Welsh charity to receive support from The Worshipful Company of Marketors (‘The Marketors’), who have recognised the unique and important focus of this young and ambitious charity. The charity is unique in that it is the only one supporting the emotional health and wellbeing for adult patients in Wales, living with physical illness. This significant marketing support will contribute to enabling Daring to Dream to embark on its next stage of growth as it plans a...

Jo is an artist, performer, maker, and a gardener. We have one body. I’ve always been a physical person - dancing, moving, gesturing and expressing myself through and with my body has been my first language and later from the age of 19, a livelihood. Now aged 50 it’s changed again and I’m trying to be a friend to this new version of me. As a female professional dancer there’s been a sense that my body doesn’t always belong to me. It might belong to choreography, a choreographer, oftentimes a...

Daring to Dream is delighted to announce that, with support from The National Lottery Community Fund in Wales, the charity has now finalised the  transformation of three more rooms in the Cardiothoracic Directorate at University Hospital of Wales. This week has seen the completion of the Cardiac Day Case Unit (CDCU), as well as our recent transformation of Ward B1 Patients’ Day Room and Out Patients’ Department Quiet Room. These room makeovers ensure the charity continues to fulfil its aim to...

On March 29th, the charity held an online celebratory event, hosted by Sian Lloyd. We aimed to: raise awareness of the need to support the emotional health and wellbeing of adult patients in Wales living with physical illness inform and celebrate the remarkable recent achievements of Daring to Dream, a young and ambitious charity, which only achieved its charitable status after the first lockdown in July 2020. Joining Sian in the studio on the night were three wonderful people who live with...

Daring to Dream invites you to join in the Celebration March 29th 6pm onlineOn behalf of the trustees of Daring to Dream, may I extend an invitation to you to attend our online Celebration event, hosted by Sian Lloyd, on Tuesday  29th March (18:00 – 19:00)? Please register with eventbrite by clicking here as soon as possible. There is no cost to the event. Against huge odds during the pandemic, we have worked together with three different directorates at University Hospital of Wales  and...

At the end of November, Daring to Dream, celebrated the success of our first inclusive festival-at-home experience for those with chronic illness, as well as for those who are well. Lleswyl: The Daring to Dream Festival was live-streamed, free of charge, to bring the festival experience to everyone, including those living with a chronic illness or disability. As a charity we were also raising awareness of the need to support the emotional health and wellbeing of those living with long term...

Julian John, 50, collapsed in 2005 due to a brain injury that developed from food poisoning. Losing the ability to stand, walk and talk, he was housebound for three years. After undergoing five years of intense physical therapy in the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, he was able to regain almost all function, aspects of his life are still limited due to his disability. Founder of Disability Confident business Delsion Ltd., Julian has excelled in his work life through...

Lleswyl2021: Friday 26th November 19:00 – 23:00Live-streamed to you at no costSecure your free tickets from https://lleswyl.eventbrite.co.uk Lleswyl (Daring to Dream’s online Wellbeing Festival) will truly be an experience not to be missed. By producing Lleswyl, the charity Daring to Dream aims to achieve two very specific things. Firstly, to reach out to those living with chronic illness or disability, to bring a festival-at-home experience to them; since getting to live gigs is not an option...

As a young and ambitious charity whose mission is to support the emotional health and wellbeing of adult patients in Wales, one of the ways in which we do this is transforming patient day rooms, relatives’ rooms, and quiet rooms in hospital. We are thrilled to announce the completion another two such rooms in the University Hospital of Wales (UHW) in the last month: the relatives’ room and quiet room in critical care. Rooms such as these are normally very dismal and bleak, both in décor and...

Friday November 26th 19:00 – 22:30 Register for your free tickets: https://lleswyl.eventbrite.co.uk Daring to Dream is a young and ambitious charity whose mission is to support the emotional health and wellbeing of adult patients in Wales. Illness (acute and chronic) and disability can be incredibly isolating, and very emotionally demanding too. The charity provides wellbeing support through tangible means such as creating safe, non-clinical havens for patients and families in hospitals as...

This project developed from simply the Quiet Room (on A3) to include the Relatives’ Room (on B3) also. It has been slower to progress, owing to covid-related pressures on staff and facilities. However, the time is now right we are glad to say! The Quiet Room is a safe space, a cwtsh, for the very tough (and all too frequent) clinician / family conversations about their loved one, for the family member(s) to discuss freely, and to grieve. The Relatives’ Room provides a separate safe haven to...

On December 31st 2020, Daring to Dream experimented with its very first online #WinterFestival. Aware of how much we are all missing live music, and also that going out or having friends or family round was a total ‘no-no’ on December 31st last year, we decided to test out an online festival. Arranged within days, we were also focused on raising funds in order to transform the Quiet Room in Critical Care at University Hospital of Wales. So, by connecting with individual musicians from family,...

We are thrilled to announce that the prestigious local Cardiff-based business, Fabulous Welshcakes Ltd, have adopted Daring to Dream as  their charity for 2021. With shops in Castle Arcade and Mermaid Quay and a strong online presence and sales at https://www.fabulouswelshcakes.co.uk/buy-online  their products have huge appeal to so many. ‘Fabulous Welshcakes are immensely proud to support Daring To Dream throughout 2021, the work they are doing in our local hospitals is very worthwhile and...

Against many odds and with lots of help from Gail Prosser (ward manager and her colleagues), General Surgery at University Hospital of Wales now have a safe and comforting space for patients and families. A cwtsh for private and supportive conversations, all furnishings provided by Daring to Dream. Every Quiet Room needs to literally be a cwtsh, a safe haven. Quiet Rooms provide a peaceful and safe space in which to allow families to connect with huge emotions,  express confusion, hurt, fear,...

Our journey with Hospital Radio Glamorgan has blossomed over the last few years. We took our first steps together in 2020 and since then, together we’ve helped raise awareness of the importance of music in supporting and connecting with patients who are at home or on hospital wards. So much so, we’re proud to be sponsors of Wednesday and Saturday evenings Radio Glamorgan began in 1967 at the Cardiff Royal Infirmary (CRI). A few years later, they then moved to their current home at the...

We recognise that many, many people live with ongoing and debilitating chronic conditions and also life-shortening conditions; we know that this is emotionally really, really tough. Therefore, we are developing ways to reach out and support outpatients who are seeking support for their emotional wellbeing. One way we can do this is to connect you all to the extra help for your mental wellbeing that is available across Wales, online and over the phone. These services are safe, free and you do...

Over the years, being in hospital and seeing your loved one battling to stay alive is draining for anyone. You do not realise the impact it has on you as you are trying your hardest to be strong for them and somehow contain your emotions. At times, the word and place “Hospital” can feel as though it is a daunting place to be. This is why emotional support for patients but also for their families is crucial; it allows people to see the true colours of Hospital, which is in fact a place filled...

At the final Leading Wales Awards & Legacy Dinner in September 2019, we formally launched the new charitable fund, Daring to Dream, which is part of the legacy of the Awards. Sophie Howe (Future Generations Commissioner for Wales and the fund’s first patron) together with Dr Nav Masani (Assistant Medical Director and Consultant Cardiologist from Cardiff & Vale University Health Board) both spoke eloquently, persuasively and with much compassion. They outlined from their personal and...