Sir,

Following the death of our son Adam Evans-Thomas, we would like to offer our thanks to you and your staff for the coverage you have given over the past 10 years to his charity work; for firstly, the 'British Bone Marrow Donor Appeal', for which Adam raised £45,000 for testing bone marrow donors and latterly 'The Bucketful of Hope Appeal' which Adam began fund-raising for Ward 10 and the Transplant Unit in Cardiff five months before he died.

Through your reports over the years many people have been informed of the excellent work of the Welsh Blood Donor Service and the Bone Marrow Donor Panel, in relation to cancer patients, especially leukaemia victims such as Adam.

We would like to thank all our relatives, friends, Adam's colleagues, hospital staff, local businesses and clubs Adam belonged to and the many readers of your 'paper who never met Adam but followed his progress reported by you and have sent generous donations in lieu of flowers for the 'Bucketful of Hope Appeal'.

We were deeply touched by the Blood Service's donation, his RMT friends, Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd's donation from their ruby wedding; the families of 21-year-old Nia George, who died from leukaemia a fortnight before Adam and the late Harold Price, for redirecting their donations to his appeal.

We have been overwhelmed by the cards, flowers, trees and kind words of comfort sent with donations, following Adam's death, and would like to thank everyone for their care and consideration at this sad time.

The donations in lieu of flowers for the appeal have reached in excess of £8,500 and we thank all the groups and individuals presently organising fund-raising events to fulfil Adam's wish to raise £50,000 towards extending the Day Unit on Ward 10 and facilities on the Transplant Unit, Cardiff.

Adam spoke with great pride about his native Pembrokeshire and the generosity and care exhibited by Pembrokeshire people. Although he could not find a donor for his rare tissue type, over 3,000 new names were entered onto the blood donor registry following his appeal for bone marrow donors from Pembrokeshir, and out of these, 19 went on to donate their life-saving bone marrow. Thanks to you all, Adam lived his life, albeit short, full of quality, humour and joy.

This is a great testament to the care and support shown by the people of Pembrokeshire to young cancer victims such as Adam and Nia.

Martin, Chris and Leigh Evans-Thomas

Bramble Hall,

Sutton,

Haverfordwest.