THE PROCLAIMERS have donated a specially signed guitar to raise funds to fight melanoma cancer after a young Dundee woman lost her battle with the disease at the age of 29.

Craig and Charlie Reid made the gesture after Jude Malecki’s fiance Keith Fleming appeared in the Proclaimers play Sunshine on Leith, which the twins saw while it was touring Scotland.

Jude’s life was celebrated at Dundee Rep Theatre on Sunday night when a concert was staged in her honour to raise funds for research into melanoma, one of the rarer types of skin cancer.

The Hey Jude sell-out event raised around £15,000 with The Hazey Janes, Kit Clark and Dundee Rep women’s singing group Loadsaweeminsingin joining actors on stage to perform 30 songs.

Keith, a member of the Rep ensemble, arranged the acoustic show with each song relevant to Jude’s musical tastes and personality.

It was Jude’s wish that an event of this kind be organised to raise money for research into the type of cancer she had, so that others may get a chance denied to her.

The Proclaimers guitar was to be put up for auction to raise funds during Sunday’s concert at Dundee Rep Theatre, where Jude was a box office assistant.

But after a five-figure bid before the concert, they have decided to auction it on the open market.

“We’ve already had a £1000 bid so there’s serious buyers out there,” said Keith. “It’s a wonderful gesture and a beautiful vintage guitar signed by Craig and Charlie.

“I would hope to raise £15,000 from the Hey Jude concert, and if we could increase that further with the sale of the guitar at auction it would give the cancer charities a real boost.”

Keith met Jude seven years ago when he first joined the Rep. Jude was on the box office and was one of the first faces he saw when he came into the building.

A couple of years ago Jude found a lump on her neck which appeared below the ear. She had it checked out and initially it was put down as a blocked gland. She was diagnosed with cancer and died in June last year. The lump was in her lymph nodes and it was very aggressive.

The pair’s lives were thrown into turmoil by the illness but they found time to get engaged and Jude also told Keith she wanted something positive to come from her experience.

Born and raised in Tayport, Jude attended Madras College in St Andrews.

She spent a period working at the Rep before training at Telford College, Edinburgh and returning to Dundee where she worked as a pharmacy technician at Ninewells Hospital.

She returned to work in the box office at the Rep and remained a member of staff until she passed away.