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Hi I'm Lorraine, and together with Kirstie Roberts, Mal Pope and Steve Balsamo, we launched this GoFundMe to complete Wal's 5 year building project... he loved his job as a musician, making us all feel good - feeding our souls, enabling others to achieve their dreams and ambitions whilst struggling to build his home brick by gig, then he was gone.
HELP US FINISH BUILDING ‘WAL’S’ HOUSE
WAL, an exceptionally talented professional bass player/musician/sound engineer from Swansea, played on many rock/pop tunes you’ve probably grown up with in the 80's. A beloved family man and loyal friend, he unexpectedly passed away in November 2025 – it was a devastating shock we are all still reeling.
CAN YOU HELP?
He never expected to leave so soon and was halfway through building his dream home. Unfortunately, this meant he left his wife Ren, with an unfinished house, and being a musician living gig to gig, Wal had little financial means to finish it when he passed. The upstairs is complete, but the downstairs is not leaving Ren still living in the caravan on site, which they have been in for the last 5 years.
With the permission of his family, we have set up this GoFundMe and would like to invite you to donate something, however small, to finish building their home, which will be his legacy for them.
If you’ve ever met Wal, you’ll know why we, his friends, came up with this crowd funder because you know the incredible person he was, and we’re hoping if he touched your lives in any way, then you’ll help now.
If you don’t know who he is, here’s a few things you may like to know:
ABOUT WAL
Wal played Bass with many famous names, Gary Numan, Bonnie Tyler, Shakin Stevens, Cerys Mathews, Mal Pope and The Jacks just to name a few. He recorded and produced countless albums in his Bridgerow studio in Carmarthenshire, and helped many charities and bands with his PA and sound engineering skills . A positive energy wrapped in kindness, he often did things for charities and people in need for no fee at all because his heart was as wide as the ocean - that’s WAL.
He was a dedicated, kind, unselfish, giggly person – always a kit bag full of really silly jokes – which we all miss – always playing pranks on and off stage, we could write a book! He helped everyone, and ‘no’ was simply not in his vocabulary. Apart from his musical commitments he nurtured musicians young and old and improved the timing of quite a few of us with a twinkle in his eye ‘now let’s do it in time eh’.
Wal was a total grafter, working all hours and ploughing every penny into the build from gigging and recording/producing other people’s projects. When everything slowed up over the Covid years, he announced that he’d like to work with THE STONES… ‘wow’ everyone thought, until with a giggle he announced that he was going to learn how to do dry stone ‘wal’ling! enabling him to continue building when music went on hold for a time.
Wal was one of those very rare and special people. Extremely knowledgeable he dedicated his life to music and most importantly to people – anywhere and everywhere he went.
IN CONCLUSION
Very sadly, apart from his instruments, there is no fallback. The house is roughly 65% complete, and this leaves his family in a predicament. They need your help.
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE
We are compiling a CD/Streaming platform of donated songs that Wal played on from Artistes he collaborated or co-wrote with in due course. In this way you can be part of his legacy too.
We’ll let you know when it’s available to purchase, or if you donate over £20, we’ll send you a copy for free when it's ready, feel free to email for details.
Wal with Gary Numan
Here's an interview he generously gave to an online podcaster about his musical memories
A lovely 30 minutes of Wal
His craft