Local folk musician and South Wales Argus sub editor Mick Tems was left partially paralysed by a serious stroke earlier this year.

He is currently undergoing therapy which will continue over the next two to three years.

Next weekend his friends in the folk world of South Wales hold a benefit concert in his honour at The Boar's Head, Coed Cae Lane, Pontyclun, Rhondda Cynon Taff.

The festival is titled A Little Big One.

Mick has spent 30 years in Wales as an active member of the folk community performing, promoting and writing, including a recent interview with Martin Carthy in Mono.

With partner Pat Carron-Smith he was a member of the world-renowned Calennig, in which he sang mostly in Welsh, a tongue he picked up in his three decades in Wales.

Despite his stroke he is still able to sing a little, although his friend and A Little Big One organiser Sian Phillips said he could not express the music he could hear in his head which made him very frustrated.

He is also said to "react well to the stimulus and the challenge of music".

Sian initially contacted members of the folk music scene to inform them of Mick's stroke but quickly decided she and those she was contacting could do a lot more to help.

Since then 20-30 artists have been recruited and are offering their services free of charge, many of them regard him as a mentor and founder of the scene in which they play.

* Tickets: weekend pass £15 or Friday and Sunday £5 each and Saturday £8. For more information call 01443 238215.

* In the picture: Mick Tems and Pat Carron-Smith - the well-known Calennig.