Local a cappella choir Spectrum Singers is holding a concert and cream tea in support of Calon Hearts' campaign to get defibrillators on all UK trains.

Aptly named 'In a Heartbeat', the choir's concert on Father's Day, Sunday 15 June, aims to raise awareness that when it comes to surviving cardiac arrest, every minute matters.

Calon Hearts states: "Sudden cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, anytime – even young healthy people. A defibrillator nearby can more than double someone's chance of survival. By coming together to fundraise, your community could be the reason someone gets a second chance at life."

Spectrum Singers chose to fundraise for the charity after being invited to attend defibrillator training by Penarth Methodist Church where the concert is being held in its Upper Hall. Research by scientists has found that a group of singers' heartbeats synchronise and choral singing has the overall effect of slowing the heart rate, making it a great stress buster.

The choir's concert features words and music on the fleeting nature of time and the enduring power of love. Songs from Renaissance genius Thomas Tallis to TikTok sensation JVKE span centuries and musical genres, from jazz and classic rock to madrigals and contemporary choral, all performed alongside selected poetry from e.e. cummings, Sylvia Plath, Dylan Thomas and WH Auden.

Raising awareness of Calon Hearts' campaign to make defibrillators mandatory on all UK trains, the choir's concert programme features 'The Slow Train' by Flanders and Swann. It is an elegiac swansong to the branch lines cut by Beeching's Axe 60 years ago, which includes the track that once connected Penarth, Sully and Barry. Now regenerated as The Railway Walk from Penarth Station down to Cosmeston Drive, and cared for by a subgroup of Penarth Civic Society, it provided outdoor rehearsal space under one of its bridges for Spectrum Singers during the pandemic.

The charity concert 'In a Heartbeat' will take place at 3pm on Sunday 15 June at Penarth Methodist Church (Upper Hall). It is sponsored by The Cream Tea Society, which has generously donated portions of Rodda's clotted cream and Tiptree jam to be served at the event, as part of its good deeds charitable work.

Tickets cost £15 (children £5) including interval cream tea and are available in advance only from TicketSource.

In a Heartbeat at Penarth Methodist Church (Upper Hall) event tickets from TicketSource