A TOWN moved by the tragic past of a local man united today to ensure he was given a good send-off at his funeral.

Andrew Shield, 38, from Northallerton, died with no money or any family to organise his burial, after a tragic childhood in which both his parents died while he was still at primary school and his grandmother passed away before he reached 18.

When one of his former school friends, Sarah Widdowson, discovered there was no-one to organise a dignified farewell for him, she set about the task with another Northallerton resident, Mark Walker.

After making enquiries with a local undertaker, she discovered it would cost £2,000 for a funeral. She told the funeral directors she would find the money, underwrote the cost and then began raising the funds.

Collection boxes were placed in local shops and pubs and a JustGiving page was set up to pay for the funeral - and within 72 hours more than £2,000 was raised.

Today (Friday, July 3) nearly 200 people lined the streets around All Saints Church in Northallerton to pay their respects as the funeral procession made its way to the church.

After the funeral, people headed to Northallerton Working Men’s Club, which offered to provide food for free.

Mr Shields, known locally as 'Ruggy', was a well-known character around the town’s pubs and his friends described him as likeable and sociable.

Kevin Donne, from Northallerton said: “I’m glad he’s getting a good send-off. He never had a bad word to say about anybody; he was very easy-going and sociable. He was just one of the lads.”

Peter Watson, who had been friends with Andrew for 22 years said: “He was well-liked, he wouldn’t hurt a fly, he would help anybody out.”

Mr Shields, whose mother was a local librarian and whose father worked for Hambleton District Council, had worked at a number of businesses in the town, including at The Elders pub, as a welder at Allerton Engineering and also worked as a security guard.

The appeal exceeded its target and now Ms Widdowson is now hoping they will manage to raise the remainder of the money needed to pay for a headstone. They have just under two weeks to raise the rest of the money.

Mark Walker, a partner in a financial firm in Northallerton, said: “I think the appeal touched people; he was a nice lad and he didn’t have the best of starts in life.”