The Festival of Youth concert, held recently at Folly Farm, Begelly, provided an important showcase for Pembrokeshire's talented young musicians, vocalists and dancers.

Sponsored by Chevron Pembroke Refinery, the event attracted an appreciative audience and raised £3,600 for Shalom House Palliative Care Unit, St. Davids.

The varied and excellent programme was put together by Chris Llewellyn, county music co-ordinator. It featured the Pembrokeshire Schools Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble and Wind Band, violin and flute solos, vocal duets, and members of the Hynes School of Dancing.

There were outstanding performances by violinist Rebecca Whitehurst, flautist Rebecca Griffiths, and vocal duettists Jessica Cale and Lucy Morris, accomplished orchestral and ensemble pieces, swinging jazz tunes, fantastic costumes and echoes of Riverdance, and a rousing rendition of Sabre Dance by the Percussion Ensemble.

It's good to know that - thanks to their own talents, the tuition and encouragement of teachers, the county music service and schools, the support of parents, and sponsorship from Chevron a number of Pembrokeshire's young people will go on to train in music or dance.

Concert organiser Heather Phippen expressed appreciation to Chris Llewellyn and all those who had taken part in the concert, and also to the teachers, parents, Phil Thompson, of Chevron, MC Brian Harries, and Folly Farm.

Shalom House's patron, Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, described the concert as 'fantastic' and acknowledged the hard work of Heather Phippen and her team of Shalom fundraisers.

She also had special thanks for Renate Thome, director of services at Shalom House, who was seconded to the job by the University of Wales, Swansea. Renate has been instrumental in the preparation and development of Shalom House for its launch in November 2007 and its operation since. She has built up a strong team of staff and volunteers and the palliative care unit has now supported over 80 people with life limiting illnesses.

The vision for the future is to provide overnight respite care at Shalom's specially adapted unit and Renate and her team have been working towards registration. Renate will be leaving Shalom at the end of June to return to fulltime work with the university.

Popular personality Brian Harries, who was MC, revealed that the concert was the last 'solo' event for Phil Thompson, who will be retiring at the end of September as Chevron's public affairs adviser.

Phil has played a significant role in Pembroke Refinery's sponsorship of music and art in Pembrokeshire and Wales, and its support for numerous charity fundraising events and community developments. He was thanked by Heather Phippen for the support he had given over the years to Shalom.

Phil said that he was always delighted to be involved in the Festival of Youth which was launched when Pembroke Refinery was owned by Texaco.

"It is held every four years and is not only a fundraiser for good causes, it provides a chance for audiences to see our fantastic young musicians," he said.

Chevron had also supported the Hynes School of Dancing.

At the next Chevron-sponsored event, Phil will be accompanied by his successor, who will be announced in May.