A MARTIAL arts extravaganza on Holcombe Hill is set to raise thousands of pounds in memory of a teenager who took his own life.

Dozens of friends and family members joined in the fun at the event on Sunday, which was held as a tribute to Tom Gallagher, who died at the age of 16 last year.

Bury TAGB and Valley Shukokai Karate Club, where Tom earned black belts in karate and taekwondo, organised the event in aid of suicide charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably).

Youngsters from the clubs, who wore 'Team Tom' t-shirts, spent the day running up and down the hill and practising their martial arts skills with instructors.

Claire Searle, who was Tom's teacher from the age of seven, said: "It was really good, we had lots of people coming throughout the whole day.

"It will be a couple of weeks before we have all of the sponsorship money in, but I'm hoping we will get close to £2,000.

"We had the pads out at the top of the hill for the kids to do a bit of kicking and punching, and they were running up and down the hill all day.

"There was one boy, Oscar, who must have been up and down about 15 times.

"I was really chuffed to see so many people turn up and we had the good weather as well, which helps."

In the last year, more than £2,700 has already been raised for CALM in memory of the former Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School pupil, who died just weeks before he would have received a superb set of GCSE results.

Mrs Searle added: "I couldn't believe how many people were there and it just shows how much Tom meant to us all.

"This is a very worthwhile cause. We were giving out leaflets to explain what we were doing and everyone we spoke to said it was a great thing to raise awareness of, because there isn't enough information out there."

To donate to CALM, visit thomas.gallagher.muchloved.com