The choirs founding ethos was to have fun and help local charities along the way and the choir has endeavoured to fulfill this role over many years. Each year the Waterford Male Voice Choir takes on a local charity partner and dedicates their Christmas and/or Summer Gala Concerts to raising funds for that particular charity. This has been very successful with great promotional assistance along the way from our Waterford print media, Waterford’s local radio station WLR FM and indeed our fellow local choirs who give us excellent support.

A calendar of events has developed over the years. In October in association with Waterford Mental Health we give a lunchtime performance in City Square Shopping Centre to increase the awareness of mental health issues and promote singing as a way of improving your mental health. November sees us perform for the Golden Years Festival in Christ Church Cathedral hosted by Dean Maria Jansen. This a very uplifting occasion for all who attend and Dean Maria’s sermons are always wonderful.

Throughout December we take on our nursing and residential home visits. This is one of the most heart-warming community activities the choir engages in throughout the year. We look forward so much to our Christmas and Easter visits to the local Nursing and Residential homes to sing (and dance) a selection of seasonal, sacred and contemporary songs with the residents. Music and song certainly gladdens the heart and the reaction is always wonderful. Santa Clause himself, Gillie Kavanagh, takes centre stage on these occasions, conducting the choir, dancing with the residents, seeking out guest singers and generally causing as much merriment as possible. He also eats all the cakes and mince pies!!! 

For almost 20 years now the Waterford Male Voice Choir has attended at the Rotary Christmas Remembrance Tree in John Roberts Square on Christmas Eve in Waterford City singing some seasonal favourites to bring this annual fundraising event to a close. The proceeds from this annual Rotary fundraising activity has greatly assisted the Waterford Hospice Movement.

In recent years we have had a welcome addition to the calendar by having a totally informal Community Christmas Sing-Song in Moe’s Café on the beachfront in Tramore. The collection taken on this occasion goes to assist the fantastic work of our local RNLI volunteers.

Throughout the year we attend and sing at religious ceremonies in churches generally in the County and City of Waterford but sometimes farther afield. For the remainder of the year we are generally rehearsing for competition, tours or concert performances. 

In recognition of our services to the community we had the great honour of being invited to meet with President Michael D. Higgins at Árus an Uachteráin – a very special day in the history of the Waterford Male Voice Choir.