The family of Sonny Ferry has launched a fundraising campaign in his memory to buy a rescue boat for the river where he lost his life.

Nineteen-year-old Sonny Ferry, from Ketton, fell in the River Foss in York in the early hours of April 13 after a night out and his body was recovered the following day.

He was in the city working as a labourer and his parents Kate and Steve believe their son slipped and fell into the water after leaving a nightclub and becoming lost.

The Sunshine Campaign, launched yesterday (Weds), has a target of £45,000 to provide a brand new fully-equipped rescue boat - The Humber Destroyer 7m - for the volunteer-run York Rescue Boat charity.

It would replace the charity's current outdated craft and feature life-saving equipment including a radio system, throwlines, lifebouys and reach pole and 3D scanning sonar.

The fundraising page says: "Tragically, after recently meeting with Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central, two members of the York Rescue Boat team, at the offices of the York Post, we were to discover that our story was just one of so many more similar tragedies that occur in York and across the UK, in our rivers and waterways.

"In York alone there have been four deaths within a two-week period.

"The current boat in use is woefully inadequate. If someone is pulled from the river, the boat is not even large enough for the rescue team to perform potentially lifesaving procedures.

"The kit does not give the volunteer rescuers the best chance of pulling a casualty from the water even if the casualty is just metres from the rescue boat.

"Our sweet precious boy is safe now, no longer is he lost in the dark, he is no longer frightened, he is no longer so very cold, or in any pain, he is no longer screaming for help, and he is no longer gasping for air, it is for every other child, every precious person still breathing we need to do this."

Sonny was the youngest of a loving and close-knit family. Steve, Kate and their three other children share fond memories of a kind and warm young man.

Kate says: "One of his nicknames was Sonny Delight - he was a beautiful person in every aspect.

"He never walked anywhere. He bounced, he danced, he skipped and he jumped. He would come down the stairs and hang from the banister - he exuded pure joy.

"He was honest, kind and generous."

The Ferry family moved to Ketton from Kent in 2007, when Sonny was seven. A former pupil of St Mary Cray in Orpington, he joined Ketton Church of England Primary School before going on to Casterton College and later New College Stamford to study Public Services.

Sonny left at the end of his first year and that summer started working at The Stamford Post, a Wetherspoon pub in the town, where he'd a part time job while studying.

Kate says: "He'd wanted to join the Army at 16, but we asked him to wait until he was 18, and then he loved working at the Stamford Post - he enjoyed the people and the laughs.

"He was incredibly bright and I know he would have got to where he was supposed to be in his own time. It was his journey to travel and he had some amazing adventures - which is what I wanted for him."

Sonny left the Stamford Post to start as a trainee at Smart Interior Contractors Stamford in the summer of 2018, following in the footsteps of his older brother.

He was working for the company in York when was involved in the tragic accident.

Sonny's funeral will be held at Ketton St Mary the Virgin Church at 12noon on Friday, May 3, followed by a private crematorium service for family and close friends.

Kate says: "Anyone who knew Sonny is welcome to the church service and to Ketton Community Centre afterwards.

"The community centre is a special place for our family. Both Sonny and his older brother played for the youth teams and Steve managed them while the boys were players."

There will be a collection for The Sunshine Campaign, in lieu of flowers, at the church service.

Anyone who would like to support the family's fundraising can click the red button below to visit the gofundme.com page.