It is 14 years since Jessie George died of a brain tumour and yet her legacy lives on in the form of her eponymous charity.

Jessie's Fund was inspired by the talented nine-year-old and initially driven by the grief of her parents, musicians Lesley Schatzberger and Alan George.

Since her death, Jessie's Fund has brought music and communication to hundreds of terminally-ill children in hospices up and down the country in the form of music therapists, training and instruments. Now the fund, still run by her parents, is branching out and establishing music projects in special schools.

"Most of the children we work with cannot talk, they have no others means of communication," explains Lesley.

"We are putting musicians in to special schools to work with the children to create their own soundtrack which the school will keep. We
want to roll this out across the country."

When Jessie was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 1993, the close-knit musical community rallied round to raise money to send her to New York for specialist treatment. But she became too ill to travel. By the time she died, more than £12,000 had been raised, leaving Lesley and Alan with the task of deciding what to do with the money.

Jessie had spent some time at Martin House children's hospice in Boston Spa, and initially they decided to buy some instruments. But that was just the beginning, as the charity became established they started
to train and put in place music therapists.

"When we started the charity, there were only eight children's hospices around the country, now there are more than 40," says Lesley, who sacrificed her career as a clarinettist.

"I do still play," she says. "But the charity does take up a lot of our time. Alan, who is a professional viola player, is away a lot."

In 2006, the couple received honorary degrees from the University of York. Now they are embarking on a new chapter in the history of Jessie's Fund.

Proceeds from a new cookery book written by Jessie's grandmother,
Rosl Schatzberger, aims to raise funds to help this
new phase of working in special schools.

The book Oma Goodness! Austrian Magic in an English Kitchen is a collection of family favourites.

Oma is the Austrian word for grandmother.

Rosl spent her childhood in Vienna before being forced to flee with her family in the weeks before the outbreak of the Second World War.

She trained as a home economist and taught in many different places before retraining as a social worker, but her passion for cooking remained.

"I always cooked with my grandchildren," says Rosl. "And the book is some of their favourite recipes. I wanted it to raise money
and awareness of Jessie's Fund. I was very close to Jessie as her parents were away a lot and I would look after her and her brothers and sisters. Her loss was devastating.

"When a thing like that happens you cannot imagine what the future will hold and at the time it was hard to imagine that it would be such a success."

Proceeds from Oma Goodness will go towards the next phase in Jessie's Fund. "In York, the only music therapist in a special school is funded by Jessie's Fund, not the local education authority," says Lesley.

"We have been working on a creative project with special schools. Using music you can incorporate all sorts of areas of the national curriculum. A lot of these children cannot speak, but by using music you can access different parts of the brain and get a response."

If she were still alive, Jessie would be nearly 24 years old.

"The fund started before she died, and I think she would be amazed by what it has become."

To find out more about Jessie's Fund or to purchase a copy of Oma Goodness, visit www.jessiesfund.org