Fund-raiser for young Wigan man Matthew Dutton brings in more than £11k

The school friends launched the fund-raiser to help pay for funeral costs but have now raised over £11,200.

Originally a target of £1,000 was set but that has been left far behind as hundreds of people have donated.

Members of the group of friends also shared their memories of the former St John Fisher Catholic High School pupil, who was last seen on Sunday, August 23 after leaving a pub on Belle Green Lane in Ince.

The search for him ended in tragedy last Wednesday when police found a body.

Liam Sharkey, 22, said: “It gives a good representation of what Matthew was like that people are giving that kind of money for him.

“It’s just to help the family with whatever they need.

“We all went to school together. We all went through high school and some of the lads went to primary school with him as well.

“The majority of us got jobs straight after school but we stayed in touch through going out at weekends and on holidays.

“He was a good lad: caring, funny, constantly winding you up.

“I still can’t believe what has happened. We were all shocked. It was so out of character for him to go missing and then that happened. We all just miss him.”

Chloe Newberry described how Matthew, who worked as a plumber, helped her when she struggled as a victim of bullying at the start of her time at secondary school.

She said: “Hearing about his death has broken my heart as he was such a lovely lad.

“The fund-raiser has been set up due to funeral costs as his death was so sudden and unexpected.

“It’s hard to gather the money for a funeral you didn’t expect to happen plus when you are grieving over a lost family member and trying to figure out how to give them an amazing send off it’s hard and horrible.

“He was loved by so many people and people are showing that with the donations.”

To find out more or donate visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/liam-varley