Introduction
Tom Jones and his late wife, Linda, are being honored posthumously for a joint legacy that now lives on in a powerful way: Sir Tom has invested £2.8 million to convert a historic house in Pontypridd, Wales — the very town where he was born and raised — into a shelter for homeless and at-risk youth.
When Tom Jones poured his heart and fortune back into Pontypridd, he didn’t just give back—he closed the circle. This is the valley that forged him, the coal-soaked hills that shaped his grit, and the town whose pubs first echoed with his unmistakable voice.
“There’s a piece of Pontypridd in every song I’ve ever sung,” Sir Tom Jones said.
“This town gave me everything — my voice, my spirit, my start. What I’m giving now is only a fraction of what it’s given me. If this place can give young people even half the chance it gave me, then it’s worth every note, every pound. My music, and my heart, are theirs now.”
The shelter — named “Linden House” in tribute to his late wife and lifelong partner Linda — is set to open this winter. It will offer housing, education support, meals, and mental health services to youth between the ages of 16 and 25 facing homelessness or domestic crisis in the Rhondda Cynon Taf region.
Locals are already calling it one of the most generous acts ever made by a public figure in the Valleys.