Tunisia attacks victim remembered with scholarship

Joel Richards was killed near Sousse in Tunisia in 2015

A scholarship has been started in memory of a former University of Worcester student killed in an attack on a tourist resort in Tunisia.

Joel Richards, 19, who was training to be a teacher and was a keen referee, died in the coastal town of Sousse in 2015, alongside his grandfather and uncle.

Now, the Joel Richards Scholarship Fund will help students who want to get qualifications in areas such as coaching, refereeing, tutoring and first aid.

"Joel spent two years at Worcester, and what an impact he made to have all this legacy," said his mother Suzanne Richards, who was made an MBE for her work with the Smile for Joel charity.

"Joel lived for sport, he was a very good referee - he was a level four referee when he passed, well on his way to being a premier referee.

"He loved everything about sport, he played everything... he played Gaelic football, he was a keeper."

Ms Richards, of Wednesbury, West Midlands, told the BBC her son would be "over the moon" about having this legacy.

Suzanne Richards said her son would be proud of his legacy

The university said refereeing courses could cost up to £300 and the scholarship fund would remove financial barriers for aspiring professionals.

It will also support students in need from Joel's former schools - St Mary's Catholic Primary School and Wood Green Academy in Wednesbury - who go on to study at the University of Worcester.

"Joel was very passionate about sport, grassroots sports, getting young people into sport," said Ms Richards.

"He did lots of different volunteering hours to try and get people around the community to join into any sport, really.

"It just leaves his name at Worcester University forever, which is really nice."

She added he had also volunteered doing sports at schools.

"He'd always be that person who was talking to that child on the side who didn't want to get involved, didn't want to take part and encouraged them to."

"It's about giving everybody the opportunity, those students that want to do well, want to get into sport, sometimes financially they cant do it - so it's giving everyone an equal opportunity to do that."

Event set to raise money for fund

"Joel was a cherished member of the university community," the university said.

"The scholarship fund aims to honour his legacy by helping others pursue their ambitions in sport and education."

On 6 November, a special event will be held in the university arena's conference suite, which is named after Joel, to raise money for the scholarship fund.