Members of the Fellowship of the Services from the area organise the concert every year and this time around the Ben Parkinson Appeal was the obvious choice. "We thought it was a good cause and being ex-servicemen ourselves it has special meaning," said treasurer Les Colton.

The concert took place on December 18 and half of the money raised from the collection along with direct donations went towards the appeal. Ted Pidd, a member of the fellowship, said: "We raised a lot more than previous years, there was a really good group of people there.

Hopefully, the support of an ex-serviceman group will offer some encouragement to Ben and his family."

n Although the Dragons were victorious at the Boxing Day charity rugby friendly, both sets of fans were celebrating as more than £500 was raised for the Ben Parkinson Appeal.

Doncaster Rugby Club, where Ben was a junior player, gave the £563 proceeds from the Dragons' traditional Boxing Day friendly against Eugene's XV at Castle Park to the appeal. Ben attended the match with his family.

"The event was really successful and Ben seemed to enjoy himself, my daughter's fiance is currently serving in Afghanistan so this really brings it home," said Dave Campbell, who was in charge of the cooking on the day.