Woking rocked to the sounds of local band The Jam last weekend as a gig hosted by the Fiery Bird raised more than £8,000 for charity Woking & Sam Beare Hospice and Wellbeing Care.

Styled as the Wild Wood Garden Party, the event took place just 50 yards away from where The Jam played 50 years ago.

The Wild Wood Garden is to the rear of the hospice building on Goldsworth Park and is planted to provide habitat and food for surrounding wildlife. It has a large bug hotel and water feature moved from the original Woking Hospice in Hill View Road.

The garden was officially renamed Wild Wood Garden three years ago by The Jam guitarist and principal songwriter Paul Weller and his mum Ann after Paul’s 1993 album of the same name.

Saturday evening was organised by hospice supporter Sam Molnar, and guests listened to Steve “Tufty” Carver recount tales of The Jam.

Cian Downing, singer-songwriter and guitarist, played a brilliant set featuring his own songs and some covers while headliners The Jam’d got the crowds going with all The Jam hits. Their set also included a touching tribute to The Jam’s drummer Rick Buckler, who died last month.

Samantha Wakefield, the hospice’s marketing manager and her team of Lucy Smith, Anji Molnar and Sandie Robertson, were busy behind the scenes helping organise the event, running two raffles and an auction, in which a guitar signed by Paul Weller and decorated with artwork by Simon Clements reached an impressive £750.

Sam said: “A huge thank you to everyone who supported the gig, whether they came along, bought a raffle ticket or donated a prize.

“I’m grateful to Warren Macfarlane from DRC Shipping for sponsoring the night and to Steve Wheatley from This is Now design for designing the merchandise.

“Thanks to the Fiery Bird staff for making sure the evening ran smoothly and to the hospice staff for spreading the word about the hospice’s work.

“There was a lot of love in the room on Saturday and it just shows what the hospice means to the town.”