A LLANDUDNO primary school choir, which came first in its class in the Conwy Urdd Eisteddfod, will now compete in the national Urdd Eisteddfod in Builth Wells next May.

Ysgol Bodafon’s choir, now the largest it has ever been, was formed five years ago by one its teachers, Kathryn Mann, whose ambition has always been to take a choir to the national eisteddfod.

The choir started with just eight members and competed at local level. As time passed it has grown and competed at county level. It has performed at community events such as the Llandudno Christmas Fair and in Bodnant Farm Food Christmas celebrations.

Kathryn said: “This year the choir has grown to be its largest ever, with nearly 40 children, and is still expanding. We practice every Friday lunchtime.

“One of our teachers composed a carol in Welsh which we recorded onto a CD in time to be sold for Christmas and half of the proceeds went to our link school, St Mary’s primary, in Njombe Tanzania.”

Headteacher Trystan Lloyd Owen said: “It is a real achievement for our school as the children are competing against first language Welsh schools. The work that has gone into preparing them has really increased their skills and developed their Welsh language knowledge.

“We are all very excited to be taking part in the national Urdd, one of Europe’s largest youth festivals. It will be a great experience for the pupils to be a part of our cultural heritage of singing and performing. Memories of this will be with them for their lifetimes."