A mother and father are “completely overwhelmed” after thousands of pounds were raised at a fundraiser in memory of their son.

Holly and Graham Harris, from Dorchester, were overwhelmed after hundreds of people turned out for the ‘Boog-a-Lou’ which marked what would have been their son Louis’ 21st birthday.

Louis, 18, tragically drowned after disappearing on a night out to celebrate a friend’s birthday in Weymouth in 2016.

The charity fundraiser, which Mrs Harris called a celebration of everything Louis would have enjoyed, was held at the Collition Club in Dorchester, in support of the Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS) UK which is are leading the way in water safety and drowning prevention education.

Mrs Harris said: “We raised more than £1,200 on the night and over £1,400 on the JustGiving page, so we are heading towards a grand total of £3,000 which exceeded our expectations.

“Because we were marking Louis’ 21st birthday we tried to make it mainly about what he would have enjoyed so began with some karaoke, something we would always do on our family holidays.

“We ended the karaoke session with a short video of Louis singing ‘Gangnam Style’ at the end of our ski trip in the Pyrenees at Christmas in 2014.”

There was also an auction led by Mr Harris, which was split into three sessions due to his family receiving “so many” donations.

A tribute to Louis was played out on a big screen whilst Weymouth College band, The Overheads, played to the audience. The night finished with Louis’ brother Chris mixing a selection of Louis’ favourite songs, as well as Louis’ own compositions.

Mrs Harris added: “We were extremely moved by the response from everyone who got involved at every stage of the event, and completely overwhelmed by the amount of money raised on the night.

“Graham later said to his dad that if he could do it all again, he wouldn’t change a thing.”

Mrs Harris said the night was “greatly uplifting” for her family and has offered help to anyone who would like to organise a similar event in the future.

Since Louis' death she has been involved in giving water safety talks to sixth form students at Thomas Hardye, the school which Louis attended, as well as supporting RLSS’s annual Don’t Drink and Drown campaign.

There is still time to donate at justgiving.com/fundraising/holly-harris5