A RESEARCH fund founded in memory of a “quiet, considerate and caring” teenager who died at just 13 has officially opened.

People can now apply for the three-year Tom Walker Cancer Wales PHD Studentship for Acute Myeloid Leukaemia Research.

Tom’s parents, Tim and Debbie, and sisters Holly and Emily, from Devauden, raised more than £100,000 to fund the studentship with the help of the Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools community.

The fundraising included a swimathon at the start of the year which is set to be repeated next January.

The Monmouth School for Boys pupil was the youngest of 90 people who defied cold and wet conditions in March 2018 to tackle the Brecon Beacons Night Hike to raise vital funds for Cancer Research Wales, but less than three months later Tom was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia.

Tragically, Tom – a keen swimmer for his school and Monnow Swimming Club, who was learning to row on the River Wye and played the drums with the school orchestra – failed to recover from an operation required to start treatment and died the day after his diagnosis.

Since his sudden death, his family, friends and the Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools’ community have united to raise money for Cancer Research Wales.

In October 2018, Cancer Research Wales announced it would set up a fund in Tom’s memory and the £100,000 target was reached within just 11 months.

The project is set to begin no later than October 2020.

The appointed student and host laboratory will keep in touch with Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools and community groups throughout the project.

Meanwhile, fund-raising in Tom’s memory will continue with more individual and school-led events planned, including the second Swim for Tom on January 12, 2020.

All applications must be submitted to Cancer Research Wales by 9am on Friday, November 8 2019.