On a hook at the counter of an Aboyne cafe hangs a beautiful image captured of a peaceful loch under a blue sky.
The front of a 2025 calendar filled with stunning local landscapes is the result of four years of hard work and perfectionism from 17-year-old Torin Liversedge.
First discovering a passion for photography during Covid, Torin from Cushnie has since honed his skills and this year sold out over 350 calendars.
But Torin admitted he would trade it all in a moment for an impossible chance to go back in time to 2020, when he last saw his older brother Corey.
Corey Liversedge: The boy with the ‘wicked’ sense of humour and love for the outdoors
The year 2020 was a hard one for many when Covid hit but for the Liversedge family, it proved to be devastating when their 16-year-old son Corey took his own life.
On October 24, the teenager with a wicked sense of humour and a love for swimming and the outdoors was gone.
His parents believe it was the restrictions that caused Corey to struggle as he found it hard to be away from friends, was faced with rubbish internet, stressful schoolwork and many hours in the house.
The big lover of the outdoors who already had 40 Munros under his belt, also enjoyed geography and all the classic films.
“For me I felt like he was just coming into his own, just finding his way of who he was going to be,” his mum Kerry said.
“He liked to exercise, to run and experience the hills and the outdoors.
“Corey liked to talk to his form teacher about movies a lot and he liked quizzes.
“He could remember all the countries and capital cities in the world and the flags, he had an amazing memory.
“And I just never thought that he could feel like that. Not in my wildest worst nightmares would I have ever thought that he would have done that.
“And I thought I had quite an open relationship with him that he would tell me things like that.”
Torin’s photography started after Corey’s death
Corey’s younger brother, Torin, who was around 12 years old at the time, said although they could sometimes butt heads, he has a lot of happy memories of his brother.
“He was fun to be around,” Torin said.
When Corey died, his parents, Adam and Kerry, and two brothers were devastated.
Left in a painful state of questions and loss, Torin spent a lot of time outdoors and found an unexpected hobby.
Torin said: “We live in the middle of nowhere so we went on lots of walks and bike rides. So with my phone in my pocket, it was easy for me to take photos.
“Sometimes when I go out for a walk now I don’t enjoy it because it’s like an obsession to get a photo out of it.”
Taking photos gave Torin something to focus on
Moving from his iPhone to his mum’s old SLR camera before getting his own last year, Torin admitted he sometimes would find it hard not to compare his images to others on Instagram and Facebook.
But his mum Kerry always encouraged him and said he should take it a step further.
Kerry said: “From my perspective the moment he got an iPhone he started taking lots of pictures and I always really liked them.
“I think for me it was quite a good thing for him to have something to keep his brain busy when we lost Corey that he enjoyed.
“We would go out and he always took his pictures. Sometimes we’d be freezing waiting for the right shot but it occupied his brain so that he wasn’t always sad.
“We were on a dog walk one day and he took a picture. We were in a forest and this huge sunbeam shone through onto the track like a spotlight almost and my name for Corey was my ray of sunshine and I said ‘It’s Corey’.
“That might be a bit hippy for some people but that’s how I saw it, and I said ‘You should do something with your pictures, they’re so beautiful’.”
Where did the calendar for Corey come from?
That was when Kerry suggested putting together a calendar for people in the family. Torin was reluctant at first but after a couple of times of putting them together, he realised he really enjoyed it.
When Kerry’s friends started commenting on how good the photos were, she convinced Torin to try and sell them in the community.
In 2022 he sold 100 and over 120 in 2023.
But for 2025, he wanted to do something different.
After Torin and his mum spoke with Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH) at the Keith Highland Games, he asked if he could help raise money for the charity through his calendars.
Wanting to do something special for his brother for the year Corey would have turned 21, Torin, besides investing a lot of his time taking photos, covered all the costs of printing and getting the calendars delivered.
Torin hopes the calendars can help someone else
His mum said: “When he told me his idea it just blew me away.
“Because 2025 is five years since we lost Corey this was Torin’s idea to mark it with a calendar.
“He has bought all of the calendars’ starting costs off his own bank account. So every single penny of that £15 goes to SAMH’s North East Suicide Prevention.”
The SAMH team in the north-east of Scotland works in communities to reduce stigma and increase the capacity to support conversations around suicide.
This is done through offering free resources and training to help people know what to do to keep themselves and others safe.
Sharing his story on the back of the calendars and with uplifting quotes placed throughout, Torin said he just hopes it can help someone else.
“I didn’t want to do it for my own money,” he added.
“My calendars aren’t just for money. They have more of a meaning behind them that’s why I started doing them and because it’s the five-year mark.
“I just want people to use it and know where the money’s gone.”
‘It’s not just losing him, it’s the answers that we don’t have’
Corey’s death was felt very strongly by friends, teachers and people in the community who knew him and his family.
On the day of his funeral, crowds lined the streets in Aboyne to pay their respect and the family raised over £36,000 in his memory for several charities.
In the years since family and friends went to Lochnagar and planted trees and left a plaque near the quarry in memory of him.
But while Kerry said all the signs of support have made the last few years a little more bearable, the pain of losing her eldest and the questions left are always lingering.
The teacher at Aboyne Academy said: “I hear Corey laugh in my head, I see his smile. It’s just utter disbelief that something brought him to that point.
“It’s not just losing him, it’s the answers that we don’t have.
“There’s always the what ifs.
“If I had done this, if you had done that and I don’t know.
“I feel like immediately I had to accept that he wasn’t there and now a few years on he’s not there and I’m having to adjust to that but I still think a tiny part of my brain can’t believe it.
“I see Corey’s friends and they’re all 20 and it’s like, what would you be doing now? What would you look like and where would you be at?
“It’s not just that he’s gone, it’s that he’s not here this year or next year and all the markers that you see with other people.”
Trying to live their best in the middle of their loss
Grateful for a wonderful group of friends and her two boys, Kerry said to cope, she tries to keep busy.
“Somehow you have to keep on taking steps with your own life and you can’t turn back time,” she said.
“There’s nothing that can bring him back and all we can do is to live our best.
“I can’t belittle the amount of pain I feel, it will always be very painful.”
But she said Torin’s calendars are one of the small, amazing things that help.
Kerry said: “I think Torin’s calendars, if they save any precious son or daughter, then it helps a little bit with all the other tiny little bits that help.
“I suppose I don’t want people to forget Corey.
“Not that I think Torin would forget him, but it makes me know Corey is on his mind, and that helps me.
“But it’s also trying to help other people.
“I can’t bring Corey back but I certainly wouldn’t want to wish the last five years on anyone else.
“And if any of the money that is made touches another life and maybe prevents that then you have to try and take some good from a really horrible situation.”
What is next for Torin and photography?
When asked if photography and making the calendars had helped him heal a little from the loss of his brother, Torin answered honestly.
He said: “It’s something I’ve enjoyed doing. I don’t really know if it’s helped but it does have a connection to my brother.
“I think when I go outside it’s nice. Going out and taking a photo was a way of coping.”
Torin said that he was not too sure whether he wanted to make a career out of photography.
A big admirer of mountaineer, athlete and photographer Jimmy Chin, the keen swimmer and adventurer said: “I think what I’ve said to mum in terms of sports, I’d rather be the athlete than the photographer.
“I’d like a career in swimming but if that doesn’t work out then travel and taking photos.”
Torin’s photography Instagram can be found here. Torin’s calendars are now sold out, but if you would like to find out more about SAMH or donate directly, click here.
If you have serious concerns for your own or someone else’s safety, it’s important to call 999.
If you are distressed, struggling to cope or have thoughts of suicide, you can contact NHS 24 by phoning 111, or Samaritans by phoning 116 123 or emailing jo@samaritans.org.
In non-urgent situations, you can contact the SAMH information service (9am-6pm, Mon-Fri) to chat about mental health or get more information about mental health support in your area on 0344 800 0550 or info@samh.org.uk.
You can text Shout on 85258 any time. Or call Breathing Space on 0800 83 85 87 Monday-Thursday 6pm to 2am or between Friday 6pm-Monday 6am.
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