HUNDREDS of people have rallied round to pay for a funeral tribute to a ‘beautiful soul’ who died the day before his 40th birthday.

Iain Bell, from Saltash (pictured left with friends Daniel Wellington, centre, and Gareth Jones), died on October 1 at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, surrounded by his friends and with his favourite music playing, after being diagnosed with stage four lymphoma.

He and his friends had opened his birthday cards and presents before he passed away.

Iain had suffered from chronic illness through his life, and had lost his mum and sister in tragic circumstances.

His friend Gareth Jones was Iain’s next of kin and has been planning a tribute to him – and he and his partner Becky Beynon-Lewis were even planning to use some of the money saved for their wedding to pay for a funeral.

But a JustGiving page set up by Katie Snell, a carer for Iain’s late sister Katy, has already raised £4,200 after receiving contributions from more than 200 people and having passed its £3,000 target within 24 hours.

Now the tribute to Iain will take place at St Stephen’s Church in Saltash on Thursday, October 26, at 1pm.

The additional money will be spent on a headstone and flowers and friends say all who pledged support are very welcome to attend.

The full story is in this week’s print edition of the Cornish Times, on sale now.