Donor pays orphans' funeral bill

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An anonymous benefactor has stepped in to help three orphaned Cambridgeshire teenagers to pay a £2,500 funeral bill.

The teenagers' mother Jayne McCourt, 51, from Whittlesey, died in her sleep while suffering from a chest infection on 1 November.

Her children, Troy, 17, Rory, 15 and Alice, 14, now with aunts in Riddings, Derbyshire, planned to sell their pets and possessions to raise the funds.

Rory McCourt thanked everyone who had contacted them to help with the costs.

The family received donations from an anonymous benefactor and other members of the public to help pay the costs.

"I feel a lot happier about everyone who came forward with the money and would like to thank them all for being so kind," said Rory.

"Without you, I would never have been to my mum's funeral and my mum would have had a pauper's funeral."

'Huge' thanks

The McCourt children had already raised about £300 from the sale of their family pets, three spaniels but the funeral directors had asked for the £2,515 funeral bill to be settled upfront.

The children's father Brian died two years ago at the age of 56, from stomach cancer, leaving them unable to pay for the funeral themselves.

Both their aunts, Yasmein Green from Riddings, and Joanne Cumbridge from Chesterfield, are on benefits.

They had contributed £500 of their savings towards the costs but were unable to find the full amount.

Ms Green said: "They've now got all the money and a bit besides which will go into a trust for them.

"We want to say a huge thank you, we really couldn't have done it without the support of local people."

Upfront payment

Grants are available for help with funeral costs from the Department for Work and Pensions but only once a bill has been issued by the undertaker.

Mark Adams, spokesman for funeral directors Anglia Co-op Funerals in Stanground, Cambridgeshire, had confirmed he had requested full payment up front.

"We do not always request full payment but in this instance it is the offer we have made to the family," he said.

The funeral will now go ahead on 24 November, carried out by a different funeral director, in Whittlesey.