内容摘要："There are no rules in general. It's all about feelings," says Mehdi, who works on delivering the key pieces for the season.

"There are no rules in general. It's all about feelings," says Mehdi, who works on delivering the key pieces for the season.

Having been assessed by shop volunteers, the guitars were quickly identified as being potentially very valuable and went up for auction last week, where they raised £12,660.Among those sold was a Gibson Custom Shop Banner 1942 J-45 acoustic guitar, which was a personal favourite of Elvis Presley.

It sold for £2,200, whilst a Martin D-28 acoustic guitar - favoured by artists like Dylan and Neil Young - fetched £3,400.Explaining how he and his fellow Witney volunteers received the donation, Chris Meadows said: "Near the end of last year, a chap came in and asked if we took in guitars as donations.""I don't know anything about guitars, but I remember seeing the cases and thinking they looked valuable – not knowing quite how valuable they were."

Mr Meadows said he and his fellow volunteers researched the collection and "pretty quickly realised how special" the guitars were."The very generous gentleman who donated them must have known they were very valuable, and knew what kind of money they might be able to help make for Oxfam," he added.

The collection, which was sold at Ewbank's auction house in Woking, Surrey, also included a Gibson ES 335 electric guitar and a Gretsch White Falcon G6136-55VS electric guitar.

John Silke, Ewbank's Music Valuer, said each one of the guitars would be "high on any guitar players' dream list".For his part, Alastair, who runs a gingerbread business, describes the donation as his "legacy".

He told Luke: "If I achieve nothing more than just seeing that smile on your face, then I've achieved everything I need to achieve."Preston was a fitting place to meet as Alastair's grandparents lived in the town and Luke's family also have roots there.

Luke, who is now 31 and back to full health, feels he can put the last 15 years behind him. He has even run a marathon."Meeting Alastair in person is a dream come true," he says. "What do you say to the person who has given you your life back by literally giving a part of themselves?