Kev Johns – May 2010 Monday, April 26, 2010, 16:45 ​Swansea’s REAL celebrities In a world obsessed by celebrity it can be easy to forget the true stars in our every day lives. Every month, Kev Johns will feature an inspirational individual deserving of true star status. I love people and working as a performer has given me the opportunity to meet many diverse and inspirational people over the years. In what I do, you are more likely to find me pictured alongside a very special (but unknown) person than with someone deemed a ‘celebrity’. In this column over the coming months, I will be bringing the stories of some of the incredible people that I meet from the community alive on these pages. I want to start by telling you about an evening I compered recently organised to raise money for the Wales Air Ambulance in memory of Rachel Waters. The evening sounded glamorous in that it was a fashion show. However, the models were young people from Gorseinon and the catwalk was the stage of the Loughor Workingmen’s Club – or the Pengry Road Club as we know it in SA4! It was a very special evening. Rachel was a young girl from Gorseinon and a student at the local college who was tragically killed in a road traffic accident in February 2009. The Rachel Waters Remembrance Fund for Wales Air Ambulance was set up by Rachel’s parents Paul & Kim, brother Tom and boyfriend Gavin following the tragic loss of Rachel. Everyone who knew her will tell you Rachel was a beautiful, caring, vibrant and compassionate lady. Rachel’s family and friends carry out their fundraising events with those qualities in mind. I was overwhelmed by the courage of Rachel’s mam and dad and her many friends who gave up a Friday evening to raise money for the Wales Air Ambulance. Over the years, I have compered many similar evenings but I have never known an evening when every ticket for the event was sold and every raffle ticket bought by the audience: quite simply there was no more room in the hall! I can’t imagine what this dear family have gone through yet their determination to honour their dear daughter by fundraising is an example to us all. That Friday night in Loughor raised £2,181.51 and so far the Rachel Waters Remembrance Fund has raised £25,000 for the Wales Air Ambulance. The aim is to raise £40,000 and I am sure they’ll do it soon! Well done to all of Rachel’s family and friends who worked so hard to make the evening a success. Your set an example to us all – thank-you for what you are doing! For more info visit: http://www.rachelemilywaters.co.uk