THE family of a music graduate found dead after vanishing on his brother’s German stag weekend has set up a memorial fund to “keep his music alive”.

Liam Colgan’s body was recovered from a Hamburg river in April 2018, two months after he became separated from friends celebrating his brother Eamonn’s upcoming wedding.

His disappearance sparked a major missing person’s hunt and his death was later described as a “tragic accident”.

Yesterday, Liam’s family announced annual awards will be given out in his name.

The Liam Colgan Fund will create two prizes for music students at the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI). The Inverness man graduated from the institution with an honours degree in popular music performance in 2010 after undertaking lessons in Alness and Perth.

The 29-year-old from Inverness gigged with bands Waterday and Old Wooden Ship before going on to perform as a solo artist.

The awards will help students develop their talents in songwriting and music production and will “keep Liam’s music alive”.

His father Brian said: “Liam’s family and close friends were devastated by his untimely death.

I wanted to find a way of ensuring that something positive came out of this devastation.

“I originally planned to set up a separate charity to achieve this but once I had been in touch with the university to explain my plans, they couldn’t have been more helpful and already had a framework in place which fulfilled all of my objectives – to help students who were following the same path as Liam did, and to try to make Liam’s music available to as wide an audience as possible.”

Further donations can be made to the fund and Peter Honeyman of UHI said: “We remember Liam as an inspirational and highly committed performer and composer who impressed us all.

“Songwriting was his passion and we are delighted that this generous award will allow others to further pursue their own ambitions and dreams.

“Liam’s memory will live on in this award and the work of those who benefit from it.”