George Gilbey's family surpass fundraising target after struggling for donations to pay for funeral
George Gilbey's family reached their fundraising goal for his funeral after receiving a sudden surge of donations on Wednesday.
The Channel 4 star tragically fell 80 feet to his death after accidentally tumbling through a skylight while working on a warehouse roof in Southend-On-Sea, Essex.
The ex-Celebrity Big Brother alum fell from the roof of EGL Homecare in Shoeburyness without wearing a harness.
On Wednesday, it was revealed that they were struggling to raise enough funds to cover his funeral, which is yet to be confirmed.
Now, it has emerged that they’ve exceeded their £5,000 goal after kind-hearted individuals rushed to contribute to the GoFundMe page.
As of now, 392 people have donated to the fundraiser and have raised almost £5,700 for it.
Gilbey appeared on Channel 4’s Gogglebox alongside his mother Linda McGarry and stepfather Pete.Last week, Linda paid tribute to her son and said she was “devastated” by his passing.
She said: “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.”
The TV star shared that Gilbey had been trying to “rebuild his life after “coming out of showbiz” following Pete’s death from bowel cancer in 2021.
She added that her son also recently struggled with the news his mother had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, telling the Mirror, “George took it worse than me.”
“He came to celebrity overnight but didn’t really want to be – he was just normal,” she added. “But it allowed him to do charity work and anytime anyone contacted him about charity work, he prioritised it.”
Last week, Essex Police said they were called to an incident in Shoebury in Southend-on-Sea, where a man had died after falling from a height.
They confirmed that the ambulance service and air ambulance attended but, despite efforts to save Gilbey, he died at the scene.
The authorities have since launched a joint investigation with the Health and Safety Executive and inquiries are ongoing.
A man, who is in his 40s and from the Witham area of Essex, was arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. He has since been released by police under investigation.
