Hi, our names are Marlene (Wife) and I, Carmen (Daughter). On the 5th of May this year, we suddenly lost Manuel to a heart attack while we were both at work. That same day, I got dismissed from my job and came home to find my dad dead. He was a healthy man and we never would’ve expected this, nobody did. He was and still is loved by so many, and has achieved so much over the years. Anyone will tell you how much of a good and funny man he was. He came to England by himself over 20 years ago and met my mum, then had to continue as a single father for the first few years of my life as my mum battled cancer. She’s thankfully beaten it but this is another battle we didn’t see coming. Just 2 years before his death he had been congratulated at a ceremony for working as a hotel chef for 20 years. He was a very hardworking man but never complained despite being 72 years old and waking up at 3am everyday to clock in. He always gave even when he didn’t have. The only two things he asked of me was to see me graduate and to get the chance to travel to New York, both of which he will never get to see. It’s just the two of us now but that won’t stop us from sharing the selflessness he had.

With me no longer having a job and my mum not earning enough, giving him a proper burial is seeming impossible. It’s embarrassing and I’ve never had to do anything like this but I just want to help out my mum and also give my dad the funeral he deserves. Literally anything at all will help us massively.