Trust set up in memory of tragic student

Will Clarke

A MEMORIAL trust fund has been set up in memory of Suffolk student who killed himself following a battle with manic depression.

The Tom Cannon Memorial Trust has been set up by friends of the 27-year-old GP's son to raise awareness of the condition, which blighted his life.

Ben Palmer, who knew Tom from Ixworth Primary School near Bury St Edmunds, said he hoped the trust would help take the stigma out of mental illness and encourage others to talk about what they are going through.

Mr Palmer said: “What we are looking to do is to have a memorial fund for anyone who wants to hold a fundraising event.

“The money we have comes from a memorial ball we held on July 5, which also raised £13,000 for the Depression Alliance.

“I knew Tom for 23 years - we grew up together and we were very good friends. He was a very outgoing and eccentric chap but in his late teens we began to notice a change.”

He added: “He would go from complete highs to complete lows. It was something he never really talked about and it was never really understood until after he died.

“What we want to achieve in his memory is to remove some the stigma attached to mental health. People think it is going to be like One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest but Tom wasn't like that - these are normal people.”

Dr John Cannon, Tom Cannon's father who is a practising in Ixworth, said a third of his patients on a given morning were seeing him about mental health issues but were still experiencing the stigma attached to it.

Anybody who would like to get in touch with the trust can visit www.tomcannonmemorialball.co.uk