CHEPSTOW has lost a ‘larger than life character’ after he was taken ill at an ‘emotional’ meeting to decide the future of the town’s Drill Hall.
Karl Daymond, 52, was known to many people in Chepstow and the surrounding area for five singing clubs he ran in Chepstow, the Forest of Dean and Usk. He was also formerly musical director for Chepstow Male Voice Choir.
Mayor of Chepstow, Cllr Dale Rooke said, after Karl’s death last Wednesday (August 9): “He was a larger than life character who is going to be very sorely missed. He was very involved in the community and I’d known him for about six years since I became a councillor. It is heart-breaking that some-
one so community-driven was taken from us at such a young age.
“The meeting was to decide the future of the Drill Hall. It never actually started as we had 15 minutes for the public to speak beforehand. Two speakers were left and Karl was one of them. He was quite stressed about speaking and we think that in itself may have been a contributing factor. Karl got up to leave the room and collapsed on the landing outside.
“It was an emotional meeting, but we knew it was going to be. About 80 people were present. Many of the speakers were supportive of the proposed Lottery bid, but some criticised the management culture of the proposed community interest organisation.
“It was particularly traumatic as when he collapsed, everyone was stuck in the council chamber and lots of the people in the room knew Karl.”
Karl trained as an opera singer. As a principal baritone he sang with English National Opera and Welsh National Opera, performing at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden and at Glyndebourne.
Karl ran the Chepstow Chatelaines, Duke’s Yard and Chepstow Castle Singing Clubs in the town and other singing clubs in the Forest and elsewhere.
He organised Songs of the Somme at the Drill Hall in November 2016 and in July this year the singing clubs sang a Syrian song at the iNEED Hope festival for refugees in Herefordshire.
Dr Glyn Johns was a close friend of Karl and a member of the Chepstow Castle Singing Club and was at the meeting on Wednesday.
He said: “A light has gone out in Chepstow. It’s very difficult that we should lose a star in our community at a meeting to discuss the future of the Drill Hall.
“On behalf of the singing club, I nominated Karl for a community award recently for all the charity work the singing club does locally. The singing clubs were his business, but Karl always emphasised how much money we raised as the singing club for local charities around Chepstow, including the National Eisteddfod of Wales in Abergavenny, iNeed, Walking with the Wounded, St David’s Hospice, Mencap and countless others.
“Nobody can believe that we have lost such a bright star in our community. Chepstow is in real shock.
“Karl was so supportive of the Drill Hall and we were all supportive of finding a way forward positively.”
Natasha Cadman runs local refugee organisation iNEED.
She said: “Karl was the most amazing man with the biggest heart and the biggest smile. I received a phone call from him last year offering to help with iNeed and the refugees, not realising how much of a big part he would actually play.