FOR the family of Charlotte Jones, the Christmas period marks a painful, poignant time of reflection. Three years ago, the outgoing, adventurous 23- year-old from Petersfield was one of 250,000 people to have their lives taken by the Boxing Day Asian tsunami. In the midst of a journey of a lifetime, Charlotte and best friend Becki Bate had spent a month in India, before arriving in Thailand in time for Christmas. The pair travelled to the island of Ko Racha Yai – located south of Phuket – and were saying goodbye to friends just before travelling to another island when a giant tidal wave struck. Charlotte was the only person to die on the island. "Christmas will never be the same for us, for obvious reasons," said Charlotte's father Alan, a self-employed management consultant, from his Petersfield home, a cordial, light and welcoming house with its white walls and wooden flooring, giving the air of a spacious beach retreat. Living with his wife Liz and daughter Vicki, Alan said that although Charlotte would never again walk through the front door of their family home, her sense of adventure and presence was strongly felt, with her face smiling from several photographs in exotic locations, while her ashes were laid to rest in the living room. "It's the first year we've got a tree, as Vicki asked for one this year," he added. "At this time of year it's very painful to remember," he continued, thoughtfully. "We spoke to her on Christmas Day, the day before she died. It was wonderful to talk to her. She had rung to wish us a happy Christmas and to tell us her latest news. "Char was my diving buddy and we had spent several wonderful weeks together in the Red Sea, learning to become more proficient divers. She knew that I had recently made my first wreck dive and that very day she had made hers. She wanted to tell me every last detail. "Now I am so deeply grateful for the time we spent diving together in the last few years. If it wasn't for those wonderful memories of her life, the pain of her death might be almost impossible to endure. She lived life to the full as if there were not enough hours in the day. And then, suddenly, and in the most extraordinary circumstances, she was gone," he added. Reflecting on the anxious waiting period on Boxing Day 2004, Alan continued: "When we woke up, we heard something about an earthquake. Then we heard that both Becky and Char were fine, that there had been sightings of them, and we went for a walk, but then after no phone calls from her, we went through the most terrible of times." Becoming increasingly uneasy, Liz sat up for 36 hours, trying every avenue to gather information, and after getting nowhere she knew she had to fly out to Thailand and search for Charlotte herself. "We had a lot of media interest, with Sky particularly interested, and when she got out there at Bangkok airport the British Embassy people tried to persuade her from going south, as there was no food on Ko Racha Yai and the possibility of disease. "The National Audit Office said the British government's response to the tragedy was pathetic, and with the lack of help from anywhere else, she agreed to be broadcast," he explained. Undeterred by the warnings and determined to find her eldest daughter, Liz made the decision to travel to the island. "We were desperate," she said, "otherwise we would not have allowed the press to take part, and in the end we all felt we had made the right decision because they did come back with help. "I knew by the end of the week that we would not find her, and I knew that she had not got off the island, so the team from Sky TV who had helped in the search helped to arrange a service for Charlotte," she said. With searches of the devastated island, with its decimated hotel foundations and beach bars, proving unsuccessful, Liz returned home. Six weeks later, Charlotte's body was found in the sea and brought home. In the 12 months that followed, Charlotte's friends and family embarked upon an emotional journey, with fitting tributes paid to the vivacious force of nature "who took life by the scruff of the neck and shook it". After moving services in Petersfield, mourners travelled to Ko Racha Yai in 2005, leading a candlelight procession to the beach and the loading of offerings onto a raft and candles lit and then sent out to sea, followed by the letting off of 23 hot air lanterns. On the headland of Siam Bay, where Charlotte died, her friends erected a simple memorial wooden post with the all-seeing eye of Horus carved into it, while previously, in September, a group gathered in a Bristol street to unveil a plaque outside her flat that read: "'Hurricane' Charlie Jones lived here. One force of nature overcome by another." "Char may have been 23, she may have been building a wonderful new life for herself, but she was still our baby, still our little girl," said Alan. "She was also a magnificent free spirit and on a journey of a lifetime. She was outgoing, adventurous and positively fizzed with energy. Her ashes are up there," said Alan, motioning toward a treasured white box next to a picture of Charlotte. Determined for that energy to be sustained, the memory of Charlotte lives on through the living tribute of Char's Fund – a charity established in her honour. While at Bristol University, Charlotte had supported a young Romanian school child, and during their visit to Thailand in 2005, the Jones' spoke with Charlotte's diving teacher and friend, Gary Raplin, about establishing similar scholarships for needy school children in the area. After speaking to the principal of Muang Phuket School in Chalong Bay, 200 children were earmarked, but with with the fledgling charity unable to sustain those numbers, a group of 10 children were identified. "We set the charity up in September 2006, and send regular money to the school," Alan said, "although now we have the funds to support 13 children with long-term education bursaries in order to help them through their education, and we've sent 432,000 bhat – which is more than £7,000 – to the school directly. We feel this is important, as when someone is kind enough to give money to Char's Fund, we want them to know that it is not being spent on anything else." The money is spent on transport to school, lunches and necessities such as pens and paper, and letters of thanks written by the children appear on the Char's Fund website. Initially, Alan set a target for Char's Fund of £50,000, but with the £60,000 mark already breached, funds continue to roll in, and he now looks toward the £75,000 bracket. Donations come from all quarters. "We received a cheque for £200 from someone we didn't know," Alan said, and with a variety of events in Charlotte's honour, donations continue. Before her death, both Charlotte and Alan competed in the Reading and Windsor half- marathons – sponsored races he continues to run in her honour – while Petersfield's annual Onion Fest was also established by Charlotte's friends. To continue its good work and to ensure Char's Fund reaches its next target, donations can be made to the Charlotte Jones Memorial Tsunami Fund via e-mail at [email protected]">[email protected], or by calling 01730 265718. Alternatively, visit http://www.charsfund.co.uk">www.charsfund.co.uk.