Help us give our big brother Josh the goodbye he deserves ❤️

Last week, our big brother Josh died suddenly, far too young.

Josh was Care Experienced and, if I’m being truthful, life wasn’t always particularly kind to him. He experienced things no child should have to experience, and those things followed him into adulthood in ways that I don’t think you ever fully escape from.

But that isn’t the whole story of Josh.

He was our big brother. He was funny, fiercely protective and loved his family so deeply. Some of my earliest memories are of Josh looking after me and protecting me. Even when life and circumstances separated us, he never stopped being our brother and we never stopped loving him.

Josh didn’t have an easy adulthood either. He died without savings, life insurance or money put aside for a funeral. There isn’t a pot of money waiting somewhere to give him the send-off he deserves.

Our mum is applying for the Funeral Expenses Payment, but even if we’re successful, it won’t cover the full cost. His funeral is currently just under £4,000, leaving us trying to find the rest while also coming to terms with the fact that he’s actually gone.

It’s incredibly sad to think that after everything Josh went through in his life, money could now determine how we’re able to say goodbye to him.

We don’t want anything extravagant. We just want our big brother to have a funeral surrounded by the people who loved him. To give him some dignity. To celebrate the good in him. And to give him, in death, some of the softness, safety and love that life didn’t always give him.

If you can donate anything at all towards Josh’s funeral, we would be incredibly grateful. And if you can’t, sharing this page would mean just as much.

He deserved more softness in life. We want to make sure he’s surrounded by it as we say goodbye. ❤️