A photographer hopes to take pictures of 1,000 people to raise funds for charity.

East Anglian Daily Times: Tom Bowdidge, who raised £170,000 for charity while battling cancerTom Bowdidge, who raised £170,000 for charity while battling cancer (Image: Archant)

Gavin King has teamed up with Colchester United to run photoshoots at their Weston Homes Community Stadium ground.

He is raising funds for the Tom Bowdidge Foundation, set up following the death of Tom who died in October last year aged 19 of a rare stomach cancer.

The teenager, a Colchester Royal Grammar School pupil from West Bergholt, raised more than £170,000 for charity while battling his illness.

Mr King, 33, has been backed in the project by Kerseys Solicitors in Colchester, who have pledged to donate £1,000 to the foundation if he is can find 1,000 people to photograph.

East Anglian Daily Times: (L-R): Nikki, Emma, Tom and Richard Bowdidge(L-R): Nikki, Emma, Tom and Richard Bowdidge (Image: Archant)

He has run a similar initiative in Ipswich in a bid to show the diversity of the town, and gives his subjects a whiteboard so they can write a message to express themselves.

Mr King said: “I imagine the project, while challenging, will be a lot of fun too and will hopefully raise awareness and funds for such a worthwhile cause.”

Tom’s father Richard Bowdidge added: “We are really pleased so many people have been inspired by Tom and this project has been launched.

“It is a way of paying homage to Tom and allowing us to continue our work supporting teenagers and young people with cancer.”

Anthony Wooding, Kerseys managing partner, said: “Tom Bowdidge’s story moved us all. He was a brave local boy whose final wishes to ‘crack on’ have inspired many people.

“His legacy lives on and we want to do our small part to help raise money for such worthwhile causes.

“We are delighted to be working with Colchester United on this exciting project. We hope people will rally round to take part and support this.”

Matt Hudson, media manager at the U’s, added: “We are really excited to be working on this project.

“We have some further good news coming up about the Tom Bowdidge Foundation in the next few weeks, and we are already also looking forward to this idea. We hope our fans and people using the stadium will help us reach the 1,000 faces target.”

The project will be launched at the U’s game against Leyton Orient on Saturday January 24.

For more information about the foundation visit its website.