Queen guitarist Brian May has lent his support to 'Adam's Festival of Hope Appeal' at Carew Pavilion and Showground on July 16 to raise funds for the hospital, bone marrow donor recruitment and the Welsh Blood Service. The world-famous pop guitarist offered his support when the British Bone Marrow Donor Appeal, of which he is patron, presented cheques totalling £1 million to the blood services in Wales, England and Northern Ireland. The charity founded by two Welsh fathers, John Humphries from Monmouthshire and Malcolm Thomas from Bridgend, is winding up and its funds distributed between the blood services after achieving its target of recruiting 100,000 bone marrow donors. During the five years before he died from leukaemia last year, Adam Evans-Thomas, of Bramble Hall, Sutton, Haverfordwest, raised more than £45,000 in Pembrokeshire to support the bone marrow recruitment drive. More than 20 matched donors for leukaemia sufferers have also been found from among those he helped to recruit. "Sadly, Adam, one of the most courageous people I have ever known, never found a donor himself, but what he did has undoubtedly saved the lives of many others," said founder and trustee of the charity, John Humphries. "Not only will 'Adam's Festival of Hope' remember what this young man achieved, it will also make it possible for his work to continue," added Mr. Humphries. Brian May threw his support behind the Pembrokeshire festival after Adam's family met him once again at the London presentation of cheques to the three blood services on Tuesday, June 7. Brian commented: "We all owe Adam a huge debt of gratitude for his brave work as a figurehead for the cause, and being responsible for adding thousands of names to the Pembrokeshire register. We shall always remember Adam for his courage and the chance he has given to so many he will never meet." The BBMDA was founded 18 years ago by two fathers desperately searching for bone marrow donors for their children. The two Welshmen came up with the idea of testing blood donors for bone marrow matching and persuaded the blood services to work with them. As donors gave blood, an extra amount was taken for tissue typing and the donor's name was added to a bone marrow registry. The BBMDA raised money to pay the blood services to do the tissue typing and build registries in England and Wales. John's son Mark Humphries, who lives in Aberdare, survived his leukaemia after substantial chemotherapy treatment, but sadly Malcolm's daughter Alexandra Thomas died, aged 10, before a donor could be matched with her. But legacy of Alex, Adam Evans-Thomas and others who have lost their struggle against leukaemia is two fully tissue-typed registers of 300,000 potential bone marrow donors. Since the BBMDA was founded in 1987 it has raised more than £4 million towards the costs of testing 250,000 donors recruited in England and Northern Ireland and 40,000 in Wales. And these two British bone marrow registries are now internationally regarded as among the most proficient in the world. In 2001, the Government finally realised the necessity for the registries which were saving so many lives and agreed to pay £5 million a year towards tissue typing and maintenance. It was what Mr. Thomas and Mr. Humphries had been hoping for since they first began fund-raising. "We are now able to say 'job done' and wind up the charity," added Mr. Humphries. "We have achieved what we set out to do and all that remained was to distribute the funds we have left between to the three blood services we have supported over the years." The National Blood Service in England will receive £570,000, Wales £360,000 and Northern Ireland £70,000. The Welsh Blood Service who are in partnership with 'Adam's Festival of Hope Appeal' commented: "We are delighted to receive the funds from the BBMDA and thank both men for their outstanding work which has contributed to a very fine registry. We hope with Adam's Appeal that we will reach out to next generation of blood and bone marrow donors. 'Adam's Festival of Hope' will be a magnificent legacy left to Pembrokeshire by this young man." The organisers of the largest charity event ever to be held in Pembrokeshire commented: "Since Brian has come board, the bands, which are the entry tickets to the event, have been selling like hot cakes! To avoid disappointment it would be wise to buy your bands well in advance of the day as Real Radio have been advertising the event all over South West Wales." The outlets for the Bands (£10) and the raffle/ programmes (£2) are all branches of Barclays Banks in Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire, all three Tesco Stores in Pembrokeshire, the Western Telegraph Office (Haverfordwest) and Todaro's Hair Salons (Haverfordwest). The Welsh Blood Service Hot Line: 01443 622 193 and the web site: http://www.festivalofhope.co.uk">www.festivalofhope.co.uk