A charity gig will be held next week to support the victims of Monday's Manchester bombing, organised by a man who was in the Arndale centre when it was targeted by the IRA.

 

Stuart Pitts, a music promoter and a Cornwall resident for nearly 15 years, has organised the Music for Manchester concert for June 3 to support the campaign to help the families of those killed and injured in the Manchester Arena attack.

 

He was inspired to help the charity after turning on the television and seeing footage from the attack which took him back to his own experience in 1996.

 

He said: "On Tuesday I turned on the BBC to see what was happening, and it brought back what had happened.

 

"The idea of Music for Manchester - Cornwall standing side by side with Manchester - seemed to work really well.

 

"I spoke to a friend of mine, Coby Allen, who is a sound engineer, and he said 'that's a great idea.' We spoke to a couple of bands.... it all came together. The bands couldn't do enough to help. We've been inundated with requests of people wanting to perform."

 

He added: "It's going to show that the people of Cornwall are hurting as much as the people of Manchester."

 

Stuart was 18 or 19 and working in a shop in the Arndale Centre in 1996 when "alarm bells started to ring", and he said he saw security guards running before an announcement came to evacuate. He was evacuated to St Anne's Square in the city centre, which was then found to be the target of another bomb, and eventually ended up just making his way home.

 

He said: "Turning on the TV [on Tuesday] and seeing Manchester in that way again brought back a lot of emotions."

 

Through his work for charity music events organiser Macmillan in the Mix, Stuart has been able to draw on plenty of contacts to make the gig happen.

 

Currently the line up includes Ben Thorpe, an "incredibly talented young man" who Stuart said has been "here, there and absolutely everywhere, as well as Looe Festival favourite James Shead who is coming out of two years of live music retirement to play his only show this year.

 

The show will also feature Falmouth favourites the Velvet Hands, along with another Looe Festival performer Kernuyck.

 

Information about the event, which takes place at the Princess Pavilion on Saturday, June 3, is available on facebook.com/MusicForManchester, tickets cost £10 and all proceeds will go to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund.