BUDDING musicians have been given a welcome boost thanks to a charity set up in memory of a music fan who was killed during the Bataclan terror attack in Paris.

CLIP Arts, which runs a programme of activities and projects for young people in Colchester, was gifted the cash to purchase a set of iPads by the Nick Alexander Memorial Trust.

The iPads will allow the group to continue connecting with youngsters during lockdown.

Former Colchester Royal Grammar School student Nick, 35, who lived in Weeley, was one of 89 people killed at the Paris theatre where he was working as a merchandise manager for rock band the Eagles of Death Metal.

The charity set up in his name provides musical equipment grants to individuals and organisations, and heard about CLIP’s struggles to keep students connected due to Covid-19.

Frazer Merrick, who runs CLIP, said: “We’ve been so impressed by how resilient our young musicians have been to such change and how well they’ve adapted to working online.

“Over the past few months of lockdown we’ve really enjoyed jamming together over the internet.

“However, we know not everyone has been able to join in, so we can’t wait to distribute these iPads bought with funds from the Nick Alexander Memorial Trust grant.”

Zoe Alexander, Nick’s sister, said the charity was only too keen to help after hearing from CLIP.

She said: “The Nick Alexander Memorial Trust is all about connecting through music so we were delighted to help an organisation navigate through the current challenges.

“We received huge support for our fundraising Frank Turner gig at the Colchester Arts Centre in January and it’s brilliant to be able to work with the team at CLIP Arts to directly impact the community.”