AS the parents of Tim Parry desperately tried to come to terms with the 12-year-old’s death in the Warrington bombing, they vowed to make sure their beloved son left a lasting legacy behind.

Around three months after two IRA bombs exploded in Warrington killing the school boy and three-year-old Johnathan Ball on March 20, 1993,

Colin and Wendy Parry were asked to take part in a BBC Panorama documentary to see firsthand the fight for peace in different places across the globe.

“I was unsure at first but Colin said he would go if I went so I said yes,” recalled Wendy.

“We were filming for around a month – we were back and forth to Ireland and spent about three days in Boston. We visited a peace farm where we witnessed people from different backgrounds spending the weekend together. We witnessed them having heated debates.

“They told us that you can have a good argument but you must respect other people’s views and you must respect each other as a person – when the argument ends it should never end in violence.

“We had not thought about setting up a charity then but the council had spoken to us about creating a memorial in the town.

“I said if we are going to do anything for Tim it would be something like this, something that actually makes a difference.”

In 1995 The Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace was launched with the team supporting people who had been affected by conflict.

“The idea was to make the young people in England understand the situation in Ireland and the people in Ireland to realise the young people here were exactly the same as them – they dressed the same and liked the same music,” said Wendy.

“Friendship was key to the programme – this is where the idea of the Peace Centre came from.

“We wanted to create something like the peace farm – a living memorial to the boys which would make a difference.”

After the BBC Panorama programme aired around what would have been Tim’s 13th birthday, his parents were determined to channel their grief to bring about change.

“We have always said the fact we have kept ourselves busy has helped us to cope with losing Tim,” said Wendy.

“If we were going to do anything it would be to keep Tim’s name alive and make people remember him in the years to come.”