CHRISTMAS came early for residents in Horwich when they welcomed a musical television talent show finalist.

Former Bolton boy Jolan visited Belong Atherton where he treated audiences to a special concert.

Jolan gained fame when he impressed celebrity judges Boy George, Paloma Faith and Ricky Wilson in his audition for The Voice 2016 series.

He went on to win second place in the grand final of the competition and has been writing and performing music ever since.

The star is a regular visitor at the specialist dementia care village where his grandmother, Bet Ward, lives in an independent living apartment.

Experience co-ordinator at Belong Atherton, Gemma Willetts, thanked him for performing.

She said: “We all had a wonderful time at Jolan’s concert and thoroughly enjoyed having a celebrity guest at the village!

“Music is always an extremely powerful way of bringing people together, and it’s particularly effective in engaging our customers with dementia.

“It was lovely to see residents and guests singing along to songs that they recognised.”