A JOOLS Holland-style concert is being held in memory of a toddler who died from a rare heart condition shortly before his second birthday.

Craig and Nadine Santus, of Great Gransden, started the Later With... music event six years ago in memory of their son Matthew who was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, meaning only half of his heart was working.

Matthew died on May 8, 2001, of cardiac arrest.

His parents, who have a 10-year-old daughter Emily, set up the musical festival based on the BBC programme to raise money for the Little Hearts Matter charity which helped them after Matthew’s diagnosis and following his death.

Later With ... 2013 takes place at the Little Gransden Village Hall at 7.30pm on Saturday, June 15.

Mr Santus, 45, said: “Matthew was amazing. He would be 13 now. We started the concerts as we wanted to turn a personal tragedy into something positive and music is a very powerful medium to achieve that.

“We have started lots of fundraising events for Little Hearts Matter and Later With... seems to have captured people’s imagination. This is the third one as we run it every two years and this year we wanted to take it wider than the people in the Gransdens.

“It is in the style of Later with Jools Holland, so we have a mix of music from jazz, soul and blues to 80s pop, rock and acoustic. It’s lucky we live in an area with a wide range of talented musicians.”

Mr Santus, a drummer, added: “We were fortunate that we were supported through a very difficult time by the charity and want to pay them back.”

INFORMATION: Tickets are available from Mr Santus on 07899 956541, by e-mailing craig.santus@btinternet.com or at Great Gransden’s shop.