The family of late Gogglebox star George Gilbey have smashed their fundraising target ahead of his funeral.
George tragically passed away at his Essex workplace last month after reportedly falling through a skylight while working on a warehouse roof. Since then his family members have set up a GoFundMe account in a bid to raise cash to cover the expenses of his send off.
With a target of £5,000 they appeared to be struggling as of yesterday (April 10) having raised just over 60% of that figure from 211 kind donations. However, that all changed overnight with a flurry of further kind gestures taking the money raised so far well over its target.
READ MORE: George Gilbey’s mum says Gogglebox star was ‘rebuilding his life’ before tragic death
READ MORE: Gogglebox pay tribute to George Gilbey with three-word message after shock death
George’s sudden passing at 40 came just three years after the death of his stepdad and Gogglebox co-star, Pete. The pair, along with George’s mum Linda, entertained Channel 4 viewers for several series of their show.
(Image: Instagram)
A statement on George’s fundraising page reads: “Hi my name is Rob Barlow, I work for Clacton funeral service. As a friend of the family, I have been asked on behalf of Linda, George’s mum to set up this go fund me page so we can give George the send off he deserves. I know his passing has come to a shock for a lot of people, he was such a big character in life and is going to be sorely missed by friends, family and all who knew him.
“I think I can safely say we all enjoyed watching him on GoggleBox, Big brother and all his other TV appearances. Anything you can donate would be a great help to the family so thank you in advance, all money will go to Linda to pay for his funeral costs and any funds that are left over after will be given to George’s 8 year old daughter Amelie.”
(Image: instagram/@georgegilbey)
Heartbroken Linda paid tribute to her son in the aftermath of his death and hailed him as a devoted father with “buckets of personality” and explained that he had been trying to “rebuild his life” before his passing. In an emotional statement, she wrote: “I’m devastated, he was like my best friend. He had the best heart in the world. He was generous, funny and kind, with bundles of charm and buckets of personality.
“He did more in his 40 years than people do in 90 he’s even had dinner with the Prince of Dubai. He was crazy, but after coming out of showbiz, he couldn’t get his life back together. He just couldn’t get over the death of Pete.”
(Image: Getty Images Europe)
A pal of George told the Sun of the tragic incident: “George had not been in a good way and maybe should not have been working at all. He was up on the roof and the others were shouting at him to get down and to be careful.
“He was shouting back that he was all right, even though he was not very steady on his feet. Then, he apparently came through a skylight so fell from the outside of the roof about 80ft on to concrete inside.’ The pal added that George “did not stand a chance.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
