RAY Stone sits smiling on a sofa as he orders his weekly tipple of brandy and coke, having worked up a thirst jamming with a fellow musician.

But this is no club open-mic night.

The woman who takes his order is not a bar lady but a day centre volunteer, and the other half of his two-man band is the hospice’s music therapist Tom Crook.

Mr Stone, 73, started coming to Sobell as a day patient about 18 months ago after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.

He says: "The music therapy was my biggest attraction. I’ve always played the keyboard by ear but here you have someone musical alongside you. Late at night I get very sentimental, then out pops a tune."

The widower, who lives alone in Carterton town centre, has written three ballads within the walls of the music therapy room at the hospice.

One is called ‘friends will never see me cry’, documenting his determination to not let his disease lead him to misery.

He says: "Prior to coming to Sobell I was going down and down with the emotional worry.

"When you first realise you’ve got cancer it knocks you off your feet – I didn’t have anything wrong with me. It knocked the spots off me. I realised I was not as able as I was."

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Retiree Mr Stone, who used to make specialist beds for handicapped adults and children, describes Sobell as “a very necessary thing”.

He adds: "I come every week and I wouldn’t miss it. Once Sunday comes around I’m thinking ‘only a few more days and I’ll be out again’. It’s a godsend to people, certainly with the emotions you get with a sudden shock like cancer."

He grins and waves to Winnie, a day centre patient in her 90s, as she nudges her walker through reception.

He says: "She’s always smiling and giggling.

"For me Sobell is about the social side. People come and go here but I’m hoping sometime I can meet somebody I can pal up with and perhaps go out for a quiet drink."