A GUITARIST from Prestonpans has shared his musical skills with others to help fund research into a rare genetic disorder which has affected his niece.

Colin Gordon, 51, donated a six-week one-to-one Skype rock and roll guitar course to raise cash at an annual silent auction for Reverse Rett, a charity dedicated to changing the lives of all those with Rett Syndrome.

His musical gesture added £200 to a total of £170,000 raised by the event and the charity’s Big Give, which will enable it to continue to fund research into the post-natal neurological disorder.

Mr Gordon has also been making weekly instructional guitar videos on YouTube to show people how to play classic ’50s rock and roll songs.

He gets about 3,000 views a week on his YouTube channel rockahillbillies music, which currently has more than 360 subscribers.

He said: “On the back of this, people have contacted me to get one-to-one Skype lessons on vintage guitar styles.

“The money raised from these lessons I am donating to Reverse Rett, which so far is £90.”

His niece Romi Loffler, 15, from Giffnock, has Rett Syndrome, which most often strikes previously healthy girls between their first and second birthdays, leaving them with multiple disabilities and medical complexities for life.

Mr Gordon said: “With regard to the Rett research, the Covid-19 lockdown has impacted progress but now the vaccine is here, it is expected that a cure for Rett Syndrome will be with us in the next few years.

“The impact this will make on the sufferers and their families is huge.”

Over the years, Mr Gordon, a senior project manager with City of Edinburgh Council, has raised thousands of pounds for the charity.

A former punk rocker who has performed in live bands for many years, he now specialises in 1950s guitar styles and plays with Edinburgh band Rocka Hillbillies.

Over the years, he has raised about £12,000 for Reverse Rett, including through the sale of a CD of original songs, Prestonpancakes, with friend Scott Basham, performed at a concert at The Caves in Edinburgh.

He and his family also completed a half-marathon for the good cause.

Another initiative, Song Request Tuesday, which involved people requesting songs via a message box on the webpage justgiving.com/fundraising/Colin-Gordon7, has been rebranded into ‘open mic’ Tuesday slots. This amount raised currently stands at just over £5,500.

Mr Gordon said: “Due to the lockdown restrictions, I haven’t had any gigs last year but in June I began doing weekly lockdown videos of the Rocka Hillbillies performing a different rock and roll song each week.

“These have been reaching around 30,000 people a week and have been very popular.

“On the back of this, the band has been booked to support Hillbilly Moon Explosion on the Scottish dates of their 2021 European tour in March, which is a big deal for us. We’ve also been communicating with a company called Bopflix with regard to making some professionally produced music videos with them next year – again, somewhat beyond our expectations.”

Mr Gordon will be doing a rock and roll show in collaboration with performers from the ’60s Liverpool Cavern days on April 27, which will be going out on the Reverse Rett Facebook page as a live broadcast.