SONGWRITER Tom Bliss is stepping back on stage after five years in retirement to raise money for multiple sclerosis research. On Saturday he plays the Black Swan Inn, in Peasholme Green, York, at 8.30pm.

In his youth, Tom wrote songs for pop impresario Pete Waterman, but by the Noughties he had rediscovered his first love, traditional folk, and was touring Britain, first with Slide, then with banjo player Tom Napper in The Pipers Sons.

His nine CDs of story songs sold by the thousand,and in 2008, he appeared on BBC Radio 4's Word Of Mouth show, but he grew concerned about his carbon tyre-print. So, after one last tour to promote his final album, The Whisper, Tom announced his departure from making music in 2011 with a front-page article in Living Tradition, saying he probably would never be back.

He needed a clear head, he reasoned, to study sustainability at Leeds Beckett University, where he now teaches his original profession: landscape architecture and urban design.

Nevertheless, Tom kept practising guitar, mandocello, whistle, dulcimer and the rest, even enjoying the occasional session with Tom Napper and other musical mates. For the last five years, however, he has steadfastly turned down all bookings, instead focusing on his work in the environmental field, keeping up with the university's climate scientists and finding time to support Feed Leeds and other green projects.

Then something happened to make him feel differently about performing: last year his daughter Ellie was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, the debilitating neurological condition that affects the nerves in the brain and spinal cord.

York Press:

Tom Bliss: returning to concert platform after five-year hiatus. Picture: Tom Dudziec-Durn

Other family members responded by fund-raising for the MS Society – Ellie's husband Tony raised thousands by walking all day and all night and all day – as much to face down the grim condition as to support research that is tantalisingly close to a breakthrough cure. Tom helped, but initially could not think how to make a meaningful contribution.

"When Ellie was diagnosed, I felt the world had ended. It's terrible to see the child you've nurtured inexplicably laid low by a currently incurable disease. Then it emerged that I know lots of sufferers, including my late grandmother, who never even knew she had MS, because that's how they used to do things then. And most of these people are quietly pushing back and getting on brilliantly with their lives, as is Ellie. She's just fantastic, but life for her will never be the same, and staying cheerful can take some doing," says Tom.

"So I wanted to support her by raising money for the MS Society, who've provided a lifeline at this difficult time, but I also wanted to raise the profile of a condition which now affects more than 100,000 people in the UK. I thought to myself, 'if only I was still playing, I could do some benefit gigs'. And then I thought again: 'What's stopping me?'."

And so, Tom, his long-time double bass collaborator Dave Bowie and York guitarist and singer Ross Bennett are playing a handful of gigs under a name that gently mocks Tom's retirement: Tom Bliss And The Burning Bridges. Inkwell Arts in Chapel Allerton last Saturday will be followed by the Black Swan this weekend and the New Headingley Club on February 11, again at 8.30pm. Admission is Pay As You Feel On The Night in aid of the MS Society.

"We’ve already raised over £13,000," says Tom. "Last weekend at Inkwell 50 incredibly generous people put £688 in the pot - the rest is from our Justgiving page - and I’m hoping that the Black Swan crowd will be prove as wonderful, if not more so! 

"In the old days I played the Black Swan Folk Club about once a year and it was always full."

Let's hope the Black Swan will be packed out once more on Saturday.