A YOUNG percussionist at Skipton Music Centre who has fought his own battle with a debilitating medical condition has organised a concert to help him help people in Nepal.

Finlay Mears-Young, 15, is a now volunteer assistant at the centre, based at Ermysted's Grammar |School.

He is a former pupil of Lothersdale Community Primary School and is currently studying for his GCSEs at Bradford Grammar School.

And the concert, on Saturday, April 1, features Skipton Music Centre’s Big Band, and the Concert Band and Percussion Ensemble, and starts at 7pm at Ermysted’s Grammar School, Skipton.

Proceeds will go towards Finlay's goal of joining volunteers who will travel to Nepal to help villages which were badly damaged in the devastating 2015 earthquake, in which almost 9,000 people were killed.

Finlay deals with a condition called 'chronic amplified muscular-

skeletal pain syndrome', and he has often had to use a wheelchair since the age of 11.

He said: "The condition is quite common, but the way it affected me is very rare. It doesn’t normally affect the whole body.

"I'm constantly in pain and find it very hard to walk. Luckily, I am gradually getting better and through intensive physiotherapy it is a condition which can be improved."

Finlay started attending Skipton Music Centre at the age of four, learning basic percussion skills with tutor Kevin Maltby, and, says Finlay, he loved it immediately.

As he grew older he joined the music centre's senior percussion ensemble and also played in in the junior guitar ensemble.

He said: "As time went by, I became more and more ill. Throughout this time

Skipton Music Centre supported me, changed the arrangements of the rooms so they would be accessible for me, and let me continue to come, which was psychologically very important. Sadly, when I reached the age of 12 I was too ill to be able to

continue to attend. I only went to school a couple of hours a day.

"Recently, I decided return to Skipton Music Centre to work as a volunteer, initially as part of my Duke of Edinburgh volunteering. I have been a volunteer assistant with the percussion ensemble since January 2016 and have enjoyed supporting the newer members as well as conducting a number of their pieces.

"Now my goal is to be able be part of a trip to Nepal in the summer of 2018."

Admission to the concert is on the door and tickets are £7 for adults, £5 concessions.