A Stroud musician has reached 10 million views on his YouTube channel featuring harmonica lessons during lockdown.

Liam Ward, from Cainscross, used downtime imposed by the pandemic to create free videos on the website.

He said:“I found myself stuck at home and thought that people might need something to keep them occupied - especially during such a tough time."

Since March, Liam posted four new harmonica videos a week including lessons, a children’s course and Skype interviews with some of the world’s top harmonicists.

His efforts have seen his channel pass 10 million views and 100,000 subscribers, earning him a coveted ‘Silver Play Button’ award.

Emails and messages have come in from worldwide, giving thanks for the content he has produced.

“Of course, to receive the YouTube award was really special, but mainly it’s been uplifting to get such a great response, especially from families with kids needing entertainment," Liam said.

His efforts were thwarted momentarily at the start of June when his computer broke down, but a crowdfunding campaign set up to help buy new equipment reached over £3,500 in a matter of days.

Liam said that experience cemented his commitment.

“I’ve now been able to invest in better equipment and I want to give something back to all the kind people who helped made it happen," he said.

He is not new to YouTube but stepped things up seriously when he could no longer gig safely.

Liam said: “I’m usually out gigging several times a week so videos would be a sporadic thing. From March onwards, the events and festivals were being cancelled one after another.

“Posting videos was the only way I could keep myself busy at home, and I’m so glad I did it”.

Liam added that he will definitely keep posting videos once he’s able to work again.

He said: “I hope it will be safe to restart gigging at some point soon, but until then I’m lucky to have something to stop me going stir-crazy!”

You can find Liam Ward’s YouTube harmonica lessons at bit.ly/2DqVU1I