Friends and family of Paul Fletcher will pay their last respects to the Penwortham dad of two when his funeral takes place on Tuesday.

A service will be held at St Leonard’s Church, Penwortham, at 11.30am.

The funeral cortege will then pass through Hill Road Cemetery, where Paul tended to the graves, and where his body was found last week.

There will be a private committal before friends and family gather at Penwortham Golf Club to pay tribute to Paul.

Paul’s family have requested no flowers, but donations can be made at St Leonards on the day.

A Just Giving page, set up by Paul’s brother John, has already raised almost £8,0000 for Lancashire Mind.

John said: “Collectively as a family we want to raise as much money as we can for Lancashire Mind charity in order to raise awareness of male suicide in our region.

“Paul’s untimely death has caught us all totally off guard and unprepared, he was always happy, had a wicked sense of humour, was very much loved and adored and was such a ray of sunshine in our lives.

“We had no idea how he was feeling and because of this we would like to encourage the fact that help is out there and to have the ability to speak out about these feelings.”

Read more: ‘He was a true gent’ – friends pay tribute to Paul Fletcher

A number of collection tins have been placed at locations around the town including Paul’s local the Barrel and Bean in Leyland Road, and Shorrocks Motorcycles.

Penwortham Town Council has given permission for a memorial bench to be placed in Hill Road Cemetery. The council offices will be closed on Tuesday as a mark of respect.

Pristine Carwash in Leyland Road is running a raffle which will be drawn at the end of September – suicide awareness month. Tickets are available from the car wash and are £1 a strip.

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