A DYING woman’s wish to see a steel band will come true thanks to pupils from a Basingstoke school.

Following an appeal on Eagle Radio, 68-year-old Patsy Houghton, who is living with dementia in Chertsey, is set to have her dream come true as Brighton Hill Community College Steel Band promised to perfor m for her.

With Patsy’ s condition worsening week on week, members of the band will join her at The Orchard Dementia Centre on March 15 – just weeks after her daughter’s appeal for a group went live.

And when Brighton Hill Community College headteacher Chris Edwards heard about the appeal, he knew his school’s steel band would be more than happy to turn Patsy’s dream into a reality.

Mr Edwards said: “I heard an appeal on the radio and knew it was something our students would love to take part in.

“I contacted Frances Earwood, our head of music, who was equally keen and we set the wheels in motion to make Patsy’s dream come true.

“It is a privilege to be able to mak e something like this happen and I am proud of our students for ho w positive they have been.”

Miss Earwood added: “My grandad had Alzheimer’s and I know how devastating it can be both on the sufferer and on the families.

“Music used to be the only thing that brought him back for shor t periods of time, so this is a cause that is very close to my heart.”

The Orchard Dementia Centre is Eagle Radio’s charity of the year, and were determined to ensure Patsy was able to hear the live music.

Sarah Jacques, secretary at the centre, said the band’s appearance will be a positive for everyone wh o uses the service.

“All the clients are absolutely excited about their appearance,” she said.

“When you have that live music it has a totally different impact on the clients than just listening to it on a radio . They just love it.”

Student Matthew said: “It’s going to be a fantastic opportunity and a wonderful cause.”