A MEMORIAL to schoolboy caving victim Joe Lister will be erected in the New Year.

Plans are afoot to commission a sculpture made from glass, stone and steel to be put up in the grounds at Tadcaster Grammar School where popular 14-year-old Joe was a pupil.

Joe died on November 14, on the first day of a school caving trip near Pateley Bridge, in Nidderdale. He was part of a group of 11 Tadcaster Grammar pupils in an area known as Manchester Hole, when the cave flooded.

Head teacher Geoff Mitchell said: "It's taken us back losing Joe in such tragic circumstances and we are not rushing in to anything, but rather taking our time to find the most appropriate way to remember him."

In the New Year there will be a service in school to remember Joe involving his parents, grandparents and friends. Mr Mitchell said the event would be "a celebration of all Joe stood for".

Discussions are on-going over where to site a sculpture as part of a lasting memorial somewhere in the school grounds where it will not have to be moved due to school expansion.

Mr Mitchell said: "The idea is that it can be something that the young people can touch that's as much a living memory of Joe as possible that stands within the school grounds and the hope is it will be unveiled in the summer term."

On November 28, the Evening Press reported how tributes were paid by the teenager's close family and school friends, his funeral service St Mary the Virgin Church in Tadcaster the day before.

The Reverend Francis Minay called on mourners to celebrate Joe's life. He said Joe's parents had shown "enormous dignity and courage" and said they shared Joe's rich appetite for life.

At the time Mr Mitchell said Joe had an "infectious smile" and described him as an influential pupil who had used his influence for good and was known throughout the school.

Joe's classmates were among the mourners and some of their messages were read in the church.

In an emotional tribute, Joe's father, Martin, said: "Fourteen years is nowhere near long enough to have had Joe. After he died, my dad said 'He must want a good one up there'. Well they have got one of the best, and we will always miss him."

Mr Lister thanked relatives and friends for their support since Joe's death; the rescue team for their attempts to save Joe; the nurses at Harrogate District Hospital; Joe's current and former head teachers; and Joe's brother and sister, Laura and Ben's friends for their help.

The school will start their memorial fundraising campaign in the New Year.

Updated: 10:19 Wednesday, December 14, 2005