A Shropshire woman is organizing a charity in memory of her son who died in an accident

A year after the death of her 17-year-old son, Crystal Owen is setting up a charity in her name to help keep his memory alive.

Harvey, who died along with three friends in a car crash in North Wales, was a keen guitarist.

The Shine On With Harvey Owen charity is inspired by this passion and will raise money for other music and arts charities that help disadvantaged young people.

“Harvey has always been creative. He loved art, he loved poetry, he loved that kind of stuff,” Ms. Owen said.

Harvey, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, started learning the guitar when he was younger but really began to love it a year before his death.

“He just kept trying to improve himself and that gave him a lot of confidence, so I just want to be able to help others,” she said.

“Harvey was always helping others and always had a soft spot for anyone who was struggling, so I thought that summed him up perfectly in terms of helping his memory live on.”

A JustGiving page was set up for the families following the accident. It was this website that donated over £10,000 to the Owen family to launch the charity.

“We will continue to raise funds this year and eventually we will be able to organize some charity events in December,” she said.

“Next year we intend to allocate this money so that young people can start to have access to it.

“We are still in the process of formalizing this, the accountant is working on it, but it should be within the next few weeks.”

Ms Owen, who previously worked in youth services, said she knew how important funding for music and the arts could be.

“We have used a number of local charities such as Hive in our youth work sessions and this is absolutely crucial to helping young people bring out their best selves and give them confidence.

“Especially for young people who can’t necessarily afford it, providing them with the opportunity to take free lessons can literally be life-changing.”

Everything about the charity, including its name – Shine On – is inspired by her son.

She said her son was “such a lovely young man and we just felt that his memory would live on and continue to shine.”

“There’s a Beatles song, it’s Shine On, and he loved the Beatles.”

Ultimately, Ms. Owen wants to create the Shine On Award for organizations to educate young people who excel.

“It would just be wonderful to see things move forward, like music projects, and young people taking lessons and improving their instruments,” she said, “knowing that Harvey’s legacy is helping with that.”