The spirit of a Rutland teenager who tragically died in York is to live on thanks to a new riverboat.

Sonny Ferry, 19, of Ketton, drowned in April 2019 at the end of a night out, when he was working in York as a labourer.

A rescue boat crew located his body near Blue Bridge, located in the heart of the city where Rive Fosse meets the River Ouse.

Sonny's parents Kate and Steve began fundraising for another rescue boat, launching the 'Sunshine Campaign'.

Mum Kate believed Sonny's death may have been suspicious but an inquest this year determined the cause was accidental, as previously reported by Nub News.

The family's campaign was to raise £45,000 to provide a brand new fully-equipped rescue boat - The Humber Destroyer 7m - for the volunteer-run York Rescue Boat charity, as previously reported by Nub News.

Now, more than £35,000 has been raised, allowing for an order to be made for the boat, which will be called Spirit of Sonny, as reported by the Press newspaper in York.

Sonny's sister Grace posted online this week : "Dear friends, family and supporters of the Sunshine Campaign. Since losing our darling boy to the river Foss in April 2019 your generosity of kindness, compassion, energy and talents have helped to raise over £34,000.

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"Hundreds of miles have been walked, run, cycled and danced. The three peaks have been scaled, a truck pulled, and awesome live music and entertainment performed. Hundreds of cakes have been baked and sold, raffle prizes donated and won, and the sweetest song for our Sunshine recorded and released.

"Thankyou so very much for all your extraordinary efforts, the world feels a much kinder, hopeful place now â¤â¤â¤"

The post, on behalf of their parents, continued: "It gives us much joy that because of your efforts, the amazing volunteers of the York Rescue Boat Charity have announced today that a new rescue boat has been designed and ordered.

"The boat is being built from the money we have already raised. This was made possible after the Charity was approached by Acaster Marine in York and Highfield UK with kind offers of assistance some months ago.

"The boat will be named 'Spirit of Sonny' and should be operational by the end of the year. The design will be based on the Patrol 660 with bespoke modifications and made by Highfield."

It added: "We are so grateful the new boat is finally becoming a reality, but remain committed to further fundraising to ensure the boat and the volunteers are fully kitted out when the boat goes into service."

The GoFundMe link can be found here.