A FUNDRAISER set up in memory of a popular Gobowen man is close to hitting its £1,000 target.

Daniel Oakley died suddenly earlier this month, and was described as being kind, compassionate, and ‘one of the nicest people you could meet’.

After his death, Dan’s local pub, The Cross Foxes in Gobowen, set up a fundraiser to raise funds for charities chosen by Dan’s family.

Staff at the pub also hope enough funds are raised to provide a lasting memorial to Dan at the pub.

So far, the online fundraising page has reached more than £900, and is closing in on the £1,000 target.

Roy Pickering, manager at The Cross Foxes, said: he had got to know Dan after being at the pub for the past year-and-a-half.“He was a great customer here, and a magician – he was a great lad. He loved his job at the [Derwen] college, and he had such a great personality.”

“I’ve been here 18 months and I got to know him during that time.

He added: “I thought, because we know how popular he was and how many friends he had, it would be a good idea to set up a JustGiving page.

“What we decided we would do, is give the money donated to the family of Dan, and they can then donate it to a charity or several charities which they choose. On top of that, if they want to plant a tree or have a bench outside the pub for him, they can do that too.”

Roy added that the response to the fundraiser has been great.

He said: “We set up the page initially with a target of £500, but it reached that figure in a day, so we thought we’d put it up to £1,000.

“There has been a great response to it; he had a lot of friends. He was very popular here, he grew up with a lot of people around here and a lot of the people who come to the pub went to school with him.

“I would like to give a huge thank you to people who have decided to donate and put towards this fund for Dan’s family.”

Anyone wishing to donate can do so at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/danieloakley