Gogglebox star George Gilbey's funeral to take place this month as his grieving ... trends now
Gogglebox star George Gilbey's funeral will take place later this month after fans stepped in to help his grieving family cover the costs.
The television personality, who died aged 40, fell 80ft to his death after tumbling through a skylight while working on a warehouse roof in Southend-On-Sea, Essex.
The former Celebrity Big Brother housemate plummeted from the roof of EGL Homecare in Shoeburyness and was not wearing a harness.
It was reported this week that his family were struggling to cover the costs of his funeral and a GoFundMe page had been set up with a target of £5,000.
On Friday night they had exceeded the target, reaching almost £6,400 at the time, with his mother, co-star Linda McGarry, 74, being able to set a funeral date.
Gogglebox star George Gilbey's funeral will take place later this month after fans stepped in to help his grieving family cover the costs
George (centre) appeared on hit TV show Gogglebox alongside his mother Linda McGarry (left) and his late stepfather Pete (right), who died of cancer in 2021
The funeral will take place at the end of April and George will be buried close to his home in Clacton, Essex.
Any money left over from the donations will go towards raising George's daughter Amelie, seven.
A source told The Sun: 'Linda did not expect to have to be burying her son.
'She’s been really buoyed by the fact people have donated so much.
'It will help give George the send-off he deserves.'
Two days ago, donations were at £3,240 after family friend Rob Barlow put the GoFundMe appeal online to help cover the costs.
George appeared on the hit TV show alongside his mother Linda McGarry and stepfather Pete.
His sudden death comes less than three years after his step-father Pete McGarry died from bowel cancer aged 71.
After his family struggled to meet funeral costs, a GoFundMe page had been set up with a target of £5,000, with fans donating almost £6,400 by Friday evening
Police confirmed that George fell and sustained an injury at around 10am on March 27.
Despite ambulance crews and air ambulances rushing to the scene, he did not survive.
Friends revealed that George scaled the roof of the building without a harness and as his workmates begged him to come down, he fell 80ft through a skylight and landed on the concrete.
One friend told The Sun: '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
