A SPECIAL event featuring local musicians is being held to help raise vital cash to support Syrian refugees.

Gimme Shelter at the Artrix in Bromsgrove is a concert and evening of celebration to raise money to support the local Syrian community, which arrived in Redditch and other parts of the county last year year.

Organised by Bromsgrove and Redditch Welcome Refugees (BRWR), the concert will include samba, folk, blues, jazz, roots, country and more from established acts.

Compère for the night will be inimitable poet and former Birmingham Poet Laureate Spoz.

He said: "Come and join us, there'll be something for everybody. Why not treat your wife or husband to tickets for Valentine's Day. Share the love. It's gonna be magic."

Alistair Waugh, of BRWR, said: "The message behind the concert is simple; we all feel love and pain, we all laugh and cry. We chose the title Gimme Shelter, by The Rolling Stones, as the song sums up the cause well.

"Everyone deserves a safe place to live."

He added: "We're planning a sensational night; with a lively samba band, Bromsgrove's town crier, and a wealth of local talent that spans several styles.

"There'll be something for everybody."

The acts performing alongside Spoz will include the lively Oya Batucada Samba Band and Bromsgrove's town crier, Jack Blackman, Abi Budgen and Dan Wilkins, Claire Boswell and Carmina.

The event is on February 22 at 7pm.

Tickets cost £15 and are available via the Artrix box office on 01527 577330.

Volunteers from Bromsgrove and Redditch Welcome Refugees are currently supporting the Redditch Syrian community to integrate into local life.

The group also arranges monthly collections of essential supplies which Worcestershire charity People In Motion send to refugee camps in France, Serbia, Greece and Lebanon.

For more information, visit brwr.uk.