A HUSBAND and wife team aim to open a health centre in Flintshire for people suffering with chronic pain.

David Williams has organised a concert, Rock Off Fibro, which will feature seven bands from the eighties, in a bid to raise funds for the project.

The 50-year-old started fundraising three years ago after his wife Jackie was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and wants to raise awareness about the condition.

Jackie was a keen athlete but now requires constant care, which led David to give up his job to look after her.

Jackie, 48, who used to work as a hairdresser, said: “It’s a very isolating illness as being in constant pain every day does get you down.

“I can’t plan anything because I don’t know how I’m going to be and if I do go out I can be stuck in bed for days after.”

Due to the condition, Jackie suffers with PTSD and depression and even things like the weather can bring on chronic pain.

The pair have had adaptions made to their house, but Jackie has refused a stair-lift as she said it is the only exercise she gets but is often in too much pain to get back upstairs to bed.

David said: “When my wife was diagnosed, our social circle finished, we lost a lot of friends, but music lifts her and helps her deal it.

“It’s very crippling to see and it gets very lonely as myself and our daughter don’t see much of her, but you’ve just got to do the best you can.”

Jackie was diagnosed with fibromyalgia after getting a pain in her ankle which spread through her body.

She is now in the later stages and takes morphine daily, resulting in her being bed-bound for days.

In addition to the concert, the 29 artists are also creating an album based on fibromyalgia and all proceeds will go towards the cost of opening a health centre in Flintshire.

David added: “A lot of people commit suicide because they can’t live with it anymore and we need to try and stop this.

“It’s awful and no one is doing anything because they either don’t know how or don’t know what to do, we just want to make a difference.”

Fibromyalgia is a lifelong, incurable condition that causes constant pain throughout the body.

One band member, Martin Aylward, said they have something very special planned for the concert.

He added: “It’s a wonderful thing to be raising awareness like this and if I can make a joyful noise and something positive comes from it then that’s great.”

Rock Off Fibro tickets cost £10 and the event is set to take place in Buckley’s Tivoli Venue on April 21.

It is hoped the concert will become a Deeside festival in the summer, so all bands and artists can take part and continue to raise money.

In addition, it is hoped the album will be released early summer.

Tickets are available at www.rockofffibro.bigcartel.com

That website also provides a list of shops where tickets are available, one of them being Back Alley Music in Mold.