THE FAMILY of a popular 21-year-old who died suddenly before Christmas say his friends have created a beautiful tribute for their beautiful boy.

The Corfe Castle community was left devastated following the death of Joss Venning, who passed away in his sleep on December 23.

Organised by Rosie Ford, around 30 friends of the bubbly youngster, who suffered from a severe form of epilepsy, created a canvas with a picture of Joss, which is made up of several photographs of the former Purbeck School pupil.

The youngsters gave one to Joss’ mother and stepfather, Helen and Steve Thompson, and another to Joss’ father and his partner, Graham Venning and Wendy Mills.

Mrs Thompson said: “I just think it’s wonderful.

“It was made by his very close friends who gave it to me on the day of his funeral.

“It was very touching to know they thought that much of him.”

She added: “It’s a beautiful tribute for my beautiful boy.”

Mrs Thompson said the family were touched by the amount of people who came to show their respects and say their goodbyes at Joss’s funeral, which was held at the Church of St Edward.

She said: “We had no idea there would be that many people there. It was lovely.”

Mr Venning said of the thoughtful tribute: “It meant a lot for both us and my mum.

“My sister died on December 20 and Joss passed away on December 23. My mum was completely overwhelmed.

“She loved the canvas so I gave her my copy.

“Then one of the girls who made it said she’d get another one printed for me.

“It was a lovely thing for them to do.”