TWO school friends who hadn’t seen each other in 60 years were reunited when they ended up in neighbouring beds at the Basing Cancer Unit at Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital.

Musicians Brian James and Richard Bone attended Fairfields School in Basingstoke in the 1950s.

Both went on to join bands - Brian as a guitarist, and Richard as a drummer - and recorded music through the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

Brian was told he had Leukaemia at the age of 64. However, it wasn’t until Nine years later, after failed treatments, that he was transferred to the Basing Cancer Unit, and was surprised to find that Richard was in the bed next to him - also receiving treatment for Leukaemia.

Brian told the Gazette: “If I had not had trouble with my treatment, we would not have met again after all those years.

“The Basing Cancer Unit then made sure we had our treatment together. It got so that we both looked forward to our treatment, and we gave a bit of fun to the staff and a few patients, making friends with them as we were all having treatment together.”

Now both finished with their chemotherapy, the reunited friends have decided they want to give something back to the hospital team who cared for them.

They created 2021 calendars to sell, however it proved difficult to do due to coronavirus restrictions. Once they had both received their two coronavirus vaccinations, they took a trip back to the cancer unit to donate the remaining stock to the staff and patients there.

Now, they are working on ‘Basingstoke’s Rainbow Charity Calendars’ for 2022, and also hope to record a charity album, featuring some of the nurses on the ward.

Their dream is to record the new songs at Abbey Road Studios in London later this year. Richard last recorded there in the 60s, while Brian also had a record released on his wedding day in 1968 which he recorded at Abbey Road.

They hope the charity album will be ready in time for Christmas and, alongside the calendar, will be a successful fundraising appeal for the hospital unit.