More than £1,000 was raised at an event held in memory of Great Paxton man Jack Noades.

Jack was aged 19 when he drowned in the early hours of New Year’s Day, 2015, after the Volkswagon Polo he was driving hit a safety barrier and ended up in the river at Tempsford.

The fundraising event, on July 1, raised £1,150 and is the third to be held in memory of Jack and this year the money will be shared between the ADHD Research Charity and the Woodlands Centre, at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, as well as a donation for Great Paxton Recreation Ground.

Jack’s mum Sue, who organised the event at the recreation ground, said: “We hold an event each year in memory of Jack to keep his memory alive and to turn a tragic incident into a positive. The day is an opportunity to bring people together such as friends, family, villagers and many more to remember Jack and to have fun as that is what he lived life doing.”

The first event raised enough money for a memorial bench for Saxon Green, in Great Paxton.

“The bench is the most beautiful of memorial benches, which everyone has been so happy with,” explained Sue.

“It gives people somewhere to sit and reflect on life, watch their children playing or just chill out. Last year we raised money for the Brain Tumour Research charity and the Great Paxton Recreation Ground. Jack had ADHD throughout his whole life and his friends felt it was important to support this charity and cancer also affects so many people’s lives and the Woodland Centre is such a fantastic support unit. Great Paxton Recreation Ground holds the event and belongs to our village and needs support for the area to be able to survive, hopefully by holding these events people will see what a lovely area we have within our village and make use of it as did Jack through his life, he played football there but spent many happy hours getting together with his friends.”

The event included a football tournament, stalls and a barbecue.