The Thomas Devlin Fund is celebrating its ninth year of helping teens pursue their artistic passions, with £6,000 awarded in bursaries.
The fund was set up in memory of music-mad teenager Thomas, who died aged 15 after being stabbed multiple times just a few hundred yards from his North Belfast home in 2005.
His parents Penny Holloway and Jim Devlin said the fund was connecting Thomas' passions to a new generation and giving them the backing to explore their own interests.
Read more: Belfast dad 'broken beyond repair' after daughter's death
Thomas' mum Penny said it was a way of keeping Thomas' memory alive and of helping out young people in the music and arts sector where funding could be hard to come by.
"I think you can go two ways, I suppose, after something like this," Penny told Belfast Live.
"Anybody who loses a child in those particular circumstances, it is extraordinarily difficult to deal with.
"In one sense, it was something very positive for us as Thomas' parents to do, so that his life would be remembered but that it would contribute to other young people like him.
"They would get some life chances that they wouldn't necessarily have and that has been reflected in some of the success stories that we have had."
The fund has helped more than 60 young people since its inception back in 2006, with those aged 15 to 19 eligible to apply.
This year, there were four young people helped, with £6,000 handed out in bursary support - the fund is managed by the Community Foundation NI (CFNI).
"I think that the fund is in a sense unique in that it actually helps individuals, the money doesn't go to organisations," she added.
"We do know that in the arts, it is very difficult for young people to get funding to pursue their careers or even their interests and improve their skills and move on.
"We are immensely grateful to the people that supported it because had it not been for that, there would have been no fund.
"To them goes the credit too, for actually believing in it as an idea and I hope that they see their support has led to success."
The Community Foundation matched the £75,000 in donations that Penny and Jinn had raised back in 2006, to establish the fund and then put it in an endowment.
It's from there that the money to help young people comes.
Orla Black, the Grants Director for CFNI, said Penny and Jim usually hold a celebratory event in September with all the young people that have been helped, but that Covid-19 has meant it has been postponed for a few years.
However, she said it is there that the full benefits of the financial support can be seen.
"It is unbelievable to see the young people, they're just so, so grateful for the support.
"It just gives them that chance, that step up to go on and do something further that they wouldn't otherwise be able to do.
"The whole point of the bursaries is to overcome the barriers that some young people might face in realising that skill, their talent, and giving them the financial support to engage in extra-curricular activities.
"Penny and Jim's connection with the young people is really good, because the young people connect with Thomas.
"They realise that Thomas couldn't unfortunately realise his potential, and they're so appreciative of the support that Penny and Jim give."
This year there were four beneficiaries of the benevolent fund.
Molly Bailes from Belfast plans to use the bursary to fund fees associated with a specialised Printmaking course in Chichester.
The fund will support Abby Wilson towards course fees for a BMus (hons) in French horn performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Isabel Steele is also heading to Scotland to attend an international Piano Summer School in Edinburgh.
Ellie Ruddy will travel to London to undertake studies in Performing Arts at Urdang Dance Academy in London.
As for Thomas' mum Penny, it brings her comfort to see the impact Thomas is having, even so many years after his death.
"I hope that he would be pleased," she said.
"I think he would be pleased."
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