THE family of a young man who drowned in a York river are to mark the third anniversary of his death by raising funds for his favourite charity.

Jonathan Havron, 18, of Huntington, who was a student at Bishop Burton College, went missing at the end of a night out in York city centre on February 27, 2010.

A massive hunt was launched by police, supported by his mother, Joanne Wigmore, family members and friends, but tragically his body was found in the River Foss a fortnight later.

Since then, his family have marked each anniversary of his death by a fundraising event, and now they are planning to run a stall at the Murton car boot sale this coming Sunday.

“We have been given a lot of items for the stall,” said Mrs Wigmore, who plans to lay flowers today at the side of the Foss, where her son’s body was found.

“A lot of people have donated things, including bric-a-brac, books, toys and clothes.”

She said she hoped the stall would raise at least £200 for the British Heart Foundation, for which Jonathan was a volunteer before he died.

“We are going to carry on doing something every year,” she said. “We feel it’s something productive and the Heart Foundation is a charity which Jonathan supported.”

She revealed she was hoping to step up the fundraising drive next year by inviting stars of TV soap Emmerdale to take part in a charity football match, and said she had also raised funds last Christmas by putting up festive lights at her home in Scunthorpe.

The Press launched its Think, Don’t Swim campaign in 2011 after another three people drowned in York’s rivers. The campaign, which aimed to prevent further tragedies by raising awareness of the dangers of jumping or falling in the water, was supported by Mrs Wigmore.

She said that if it helped to save one life, and prevent a family going through what her family and other families had experienced, it would be worth it.