DURING a time when the NHS have acknowledged a national mental health crisis, Welsh singer Al Lewis has been tackling the issue through music.

Al, 37, runs a podcast, “Feels Like Healing”, which addresses the topic of dealing with grief.

After losing his father to multiple sclerosis at the age of 21, he felt compelled to pursue a career in music and has advocated the benefits of music in coming to terms with loss.

Al said: “I wouldn’t say anyone can really ‘overcome’ grief, simply come to terms with it and live with it.

“In this respect, music is a way of communicating indirectly with the person you’ve lost which can be really cathartic.

“If, like me, someone is struggling with articulating how they feel in normal conversations, putting it in a song can be an effective way of vocalising how you are feeling.”

Mr. Lewis went on to advocate music as an effective means of “connecting you to others, making you feel part of something bigger than yourself.”

According to research published by the Senedd in 2021, more than half of adults and three-quarters of young people said their mental health was worse during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Large numbers of people struggled to deal with social isolation, increased financial pressures and the loss of loved ones.

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Despite this, Al highlighted the positive impact of music at this time.

He added: “I think it’s been clear throughout the pandemic how much solace people got from singing together online and how much we all crave listening to and performing live music.

“It could be really interesting to explore the use of choral singing and song writing in helping people deal with their mental health issues.”

As “The Land of Song”, it is clear that music is at heart of Welsh culture, and Al was keen to encourage these traditions in order to improve national mental health.

He said: “There is so much mental benefit from communal singing - a tradition we hold so strongly here in Wales.

“Music provides solace that I think is hard to overestimate. It has such an unrivalled healing property.”