FRIENDS of a teenager who committed suicide last year will hold a fundraiser in his memory next week.

Tom Gallagher was found dead at the age of 16 in Old Kays Park, Tottington, last July, just weeks before he would have received a superb set of GCSE results.

The Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School pupil was a black belt in karate and taekwondo, and his friends and instructors from Bury TAGB and Valley Shukokai Karate Club have organised a charity day on Holcombe Hill on Sunday, July 3.

The proceeds of the event will go to CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably), a charity which Tom's family and friends have already collected more than £2,600 for since his death.

Claire Searle, who taught Tom karate from the age of seven, said: "We will be climbing up and down Holcombe Hill for about five hours and will be bringing our pads to do some kicking and punching.

"We wanted to pick an activity that Tom would have enjoyed and might have done before.

"He started with me when he was seven and he did his black belt in karate when he was 12. Then he wanted to do taekwondo as well and got his black belt in that last year.

"Everybody wanted to get involved, especially the older children and parents who knew Tom well. He had also helped teach some of the older kids, he wasn't just a student.

"It was a real shock when he died. I had spoken to him beforehand and I knew that he had been having some problems, but nobody could believe it.

"The effect it had on us was just awful, but we have been thinking for a while about something we can do in his memory and this is what we have come up with."

Around 50 people are expected to take part in the event, which will run from 10am to 3pm.

Tom's mum, Angela Gallagher, added: "It's great that we can do something like this in memory of Tom.

"It will be raising money for CALM, which does so much good work getting young men to talk about their problems and raising awareness of male suicide."