A CONCERT performed by a famous singing star raised more than £3,000 for Shalom House last month.

Howard Jones gave a concert to a packed St David’s Cathedral on March 15, supported by singer-songwriter Elise Yuill.

Howard’s career launched in the early 80’s, and he enjoyed success on both sides of the Atlantic with hits such as 'What is Love,' 'New Song,' and 'Hide and Seek.’

The concert was organised by Howard’s brother Roy Jones, who lives locally in Solva. They decided to raise money for Shalom as their late father John Hirwen Jones received end of life care there.

Roy said: “My father spent his last few days here and we felt like we wanted to do something to pay back our debt to them.

“It's such a brilliant place. The nurses made everything as dignified and compassionate as humanly possible.”

The brothers were also motivated to help Shalom after hearing of its financial struggles. Last November the trustees announced that 24 hour nursing care was to end at the centre, and they were forced to move to day services only.

Roy said: “Of course we won't be able to raise enough with this one event to get the beds back and full nursing care restored, but what we do hope to achieve is to send a message out to the people of Pembrokeshire that Shalom needs help urgently to keep going.”

Roy and his wife Marian presented a cheque for £3,240 to the nurses at Shalom last Wednesday.

Nurse manager Allyson Burrows said: “It means a lot to us. The money is great, but also it means that we’ve had the support of the community, and that’s very important.

“The concert went really well and everyone enjoyed it.”

Roy added that his friend, local artist Grahame Hurd-Wood, also held a fundraising exhibition in his gallery the day after the concert.

He said: “Grahame partly inspired me to put on the concert because he lost a loved one at Shalom himself.”